


Somewhere Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by MassiveSpaceWren, mortenavida



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Online Friendship, Online Gaming, Secret Crush, Secret Identity, comic skrulls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-08 03:00:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18885823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mortenavida/pseuds/mortenavida
Summary: Shadow and Iron have been online gaming friends for years but never met.Bucky Barnes just got a temporary contract to work at Stark Industries and he absolutely hates his new boss.The two have a lot more in common than originally thought.[Fic by mortenavida, Art by MassiveSpaceWren]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh MAN this was a labor of love and I’m so happy to share it with you all! This is my first foray into the Captain America Reverse Big Bang and I took my inspiration from the amazing [massivespacewren](http://massivespacewren.tumblr.com) and the awesome art shown at the start of this chapter and on [this tumblr post](https://massivespacewren.tumblr.com/post/185113852353/wohoo-its-time-for-secret-identities-and-online)!
> 
> I would also like to thank my cheerleaders for their reassurances, and my beta [coldwinterrose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldwinterrose) for poking at my words to get them to make sense.
> 
> This story swaps POV between Bucky and Tony -- each one is a separate chapter, so the chapters are relatively short. I will be updating this with a few chapters a day until May 24th.

  
  


The Soldier knelt behind a low wall, gun cocked in his hands. This wasn’t his first skirmish with the damn Skrulls, but he was getting _really_ tired of fighting them. The bastards could easily become anyone else, making it nearly impossible to tell the difference between innocent civilians and dangerous aliens -- especially when nobody had their coms on. Why was it always alien invasions? Wasn’t anyone out there more creative than this?

A suit of armor landed next to him, creaking as it knelt low behind the wall. The Soldier smiled a bit, glad to have the arsenal of Iron Man at his back. He shifted on his legs to face the other, dropping his gun so he could change to something a bit easier to handle in close combat. He’d wanted to do it earlier, but there hadn’t been anyone around to watch his back while he took the time.

Dagger? No, wasn’t quite big enough. Saber? When the hell did he pick up a saber? Bag of grenades? Okay, that might come in handy, but still not what he was looking for.

“Status?” he asked, trying to find the gun and knife set he knew he had on him.

“ _Civilians are being checked as they’re escaping_ ,” the distorted voice said. The mic was probably bad on his friend’s end. “ _Skrulls try to infiltrate as usual. Nobody else on the team has their damn mic on. Same old, same old. How you doing_?”

“Thirsty, but I’ll manage. I forgot to fill my water bottle.”

There was a sigh in his ear. “ _How many times did I tell you_ \--”

“Above!” The Soldier quickly stood to take a shot at an approaching Skrull, glad that this one hadn’t taken on a human look yet. “Watch it!”

“ _I got it_!”

The Soldier swore as the Skrull dodged, rolling into a hole in the building. “The hell you do! Now I have to go chase it.”

“ _Whatever, I’ll scan to see if there are any others_.” Iron Man took to the skies, leaving the Soldier behind to ease through the hole.

The armor of Iron Man was too bulky to head into zones like this, but the Soldier trusted the outside to be well-patrolled even after the “all clear” from his friend. He found a few discarded ammo packs and quickly picked them up before heading to the stairs. So far, no sign of the Skrull, so who knew where the alien disappeared off to. He could faintly hear another battle and figured Iron Man was dealing with his own sort of mess outside.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” he singsonged into the darkness.

This was the moment he really regretted not grabbing those night-vision goggles when he had the chance. He could just hear the lecture later about it and vowed to stick it in his pack as soon as this was done. A creek on the floor above him had the Soldier tensing, pointing his gun up. He kept still as he listened for any further signs, heartbeat seemingly too loud in the otherwise quiet area. He turned to look at an upcoming stairway and that was his mistake.

The Skrull jumped out with a screech, slashing at the Solder with its arms. He swore and jumped back, hitting the doorframe he just came through. “Damnit! Son of a _bitch_!”

The only answer to his swearing was laughter over his headset and another screech, but the Soldier was ready for it this time. He brought his knife out and quickly slashed through the Skrull’s chest. Blood splattered across his vision as the alien stumbled backward, but it wasn’t down just yet.

“ _Careful_!” the warning came in his ear and the Soldier just rolled his eyes, already knowing that he had to be careful.

“You aren’t helping,” he snapped, slashing toward the Skrull again. “Don’t you have your own to kill?”

“ _Finding supplies_ ,” was the answer. “ _Got a shot outside the window, though_.”

“I’m a big boy, I can kill one alien.” The Soldier took a precious moment to switch his weapon to a stronger gun, not caring that it was better for distance. He aimed, firing just as the Skrull jumped to make its kill shot.

More blood splattered around the room and the Soldier quickly backed up, reloading all his weapons in the process. He hated killing the bastards in close combat as it took awhile for the blood to clear, but it had to be done. He let out a long breath before heading further into the building.

“ _I’m not picking up anything else_ ,” Iron Man said in his ear.

“Ah huh. I’m just going to physically check. You left a good box behind last time.” He peeked into an empty room, frowning when he saw nothing there. “This place is bare, though. Found ammo near the beginning, but that’s it.”

“ _Already raided_?”

“Possible,” the Soldier agreed. “I’ll check one more floor.”

The Soldier was halfway up the stairs when he heard a familiar snarl. He froze, trying to figure out where it was coming from, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact direction. The knife came back into his hand before he turned, looking to see if he missed something behind him. The snarl came again and the Soldier finally looked up.

“Fuck!” It was too late. The Skrull jumped hard on him, knocking the Soldier down the stairs. He tried fighting against it, but the alien took one good slash and the Soldier’s own blood covered his vision. “Son of a bitch!”

The Soldier tried to fight the Skrull, but he was fading fast. He tried one last kick before he twitched and everything went black.

 

\---

 

In the living room of a small apartment, Bucky swore and slammed his hands down on either side of his keyboard, frustrated at the _Mission Failed_ flashing across his monitor. He had been so close! Nobody had been able to find the box of hidden loot promised in the latest _Avengers_ update, but he was sure he could be the one to do it with his friend’s help. But that was nearly impossible to do if the damn aliens wouldn’t just stop and leave him _alone_.

“Why is it always the ones from above that suck the most?” he asked, leaning back in his chair as his computer screen faded in so he could watch what the rest of the team was doing. His stats for the match came up on the side and they weren’t bad -- more kills than he thought, actually.

“ _I told you not to go in there_ ,” his long-time online friend, Iron, said. The name hadn’t come from _Avengers_ despite the fact that he played as Iron Man, but instead an old screen name from when they first met. Iron had been a Knight in some fantasy game they’d met in, and he had chosen the username _knight_of_iron_ to try and indicate how strong he thought he was.

“No you didn’t,” Bucky said, waiting until Iron dodged a Skrull. There was no sense in distracting him despite their bickering.

“ _Will you at least go get some water now that you’re dead and leaving me to the cleanup_?”

“Just because you asked, I’m going to say no.” Bucky glanced to his alarm clock and wrinkled his nose as it clicked over to past midnight. They had been at this longer than he thought. “I think this is my last round anyway.”

“ _Workaholic_ ,” Iron teased as he took out a small group of Skrulls with his power-up. “ _You sure you can’t stay another round or two? I won’t be here tomorrow._ ”

“If I could, I would. I have a meeting later this week to prep for.” Bucky stretched his arms up and grinned. “Remember when we’d spend the entire weekend online?”

“ _Best weekends of my life_.” Iron turned to take out another Skrull, though they both knew it was a wasted effort. Nobody else on the team was alive. “ _Dammit these things get harder every time_.”

“That’s what happens when you level up, duh.”

“ _Smart ass_.” He flew around the makeshift city until he found a larger horde. “ _Just for you, Shadow_.”

Bucky smiled at the nickname, a relic of the first username he had when he met Iron. Even though it had been years, neither had given the other their real name, sticking instead to the affectionate nicknames of their teenage years. It was why he only knew his friend by the name Iron.

In the fantasy game, Bucky thought himself a secretive badass assassin, so his name for years was coldblooded_shadow. Iron teased him when they met in the open world, claiming that an assassin who specialized in fire could never be considered “cold.” Being a teen at the time, Bucky had stupidly shot back that no part of his sword was iron so his name hadn’t made sense either. Instead of playing the game, the two ended up bickering back and forth for over an hour until the sharp words turned into curious questions and an eventual team up. The two of them laughed about their first meeting and hadn’t looked back since.

“You’re just sacrificing yourself for the points,” Bucky accused as soon as he realized what Iron was doing. “Oh come on. Don’t pretend it’s for me so we can get out of the game.”

“ _Caught me_ ,” Iron said, laughing as he attempted to save trapped civilians. It didn’t work and he was soon overrun by the Skrulls. He was able to use one last powerup, jumping his score as a few more Skrulls dropped before his health ran out.

_Game Over_ flashed on the screen before taking the team to the main menu. The others with them, all unknown to either of them, soon dropped and it was just the two of them in the waiting screen.

“I think they’ve abandoned us,” Bucky said, clicking to see more of his stats. “Don’t think they appreciated your sacrifice.”

“ _Whatever, we don’t need them. Besides, they were already dead_.”

“Uh...”

“ _Don’t even try to correct me. We could have taken the horde on together if we were stocked enough._ ” Iron trailed off, and then groaned. “ _Fuck, I didn’t get the damn points_.”

“Maybe don’t do it as a game-over move next time?” Bucky closed down the game completely so he wouldn’t be tempted to go back in. The Discord channel he and Iron shared popped up and he leaned back to stretch again. This time, thankfully, his back popped. “I’m too old to sit this long.”

“ _That’s a load of shit, but okay. Got anything this Friday?_ ”

“I do believe we have a quest this Friday, sir Iron,” Bucky said, putting on a horrible British accent. One day, he would get it right.

Iron sent a few sword and shield emojis in their chat before laughing. “ _Sounds good. I should be here by seven._ ”

“Seven it is.” Bucky sent the fire emoji. “See you then.”

“ _Until Friday._ ”

Bucky ended their voice chat then and stood. He and his friend Clint had a meeting with the head of Stark Industries on Friday morning to discuss a potential job regarding the project they were working on. The two had been roommates through college and Bucky got tired of Clint’s hearing aids not working all the time. With permission, he used Clint as one of his final projects and made a prototype for the new devices. After that, Clint added his own expertise and the two had been working together ever since.

Bucky tripped over a discarded shirt outside his bedroom door, cursing as he stumbled into the wall across from him. Working together _and_ living together -- sometimes it was a hazard and he questioned that decision, but they worked well together no matter the environment. Mostly. Sometimes.

“Clint!” He went down the hall and found his roommate in the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets as if looking for something. “Pick up your shit.”

Clint turned and arched an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what? I can’t hear you.”

“Bullshit,” Bucky said (and signed). “You missed your door when you tossed your shirt down the hall.”

“Nah, that was your shirt. I was returning it.” Clint found a box of half-eaten Cheerios. He sniffed the inside before shrugging and grabbing a bowl from a cabinet he hadn’t bothered closing. “Steve texted. Said he and Sam wanted to come by later.”

Steve, Bucky’s best friend since they could walk, was the recipient of another prototype aid. He and Clint had different issues and Bucky found that once he fixed one, it wasn’t that difficult to expand and fix another. It gave Bucky a purpose he didn’t even realize was missing, to help people, and he was hoping Stark Industries agreed.

They just had to nail the presentation.

That’s mostly where Sam stepped in. While they met through Steve, it became clear soon enough that he had a knack for talking with people. He started out slowly helping Bucky and Clint, but eventually became their full-time PR guy. He’s the one that set up the meeting, so he was probably coming by to make sure they were ready.

“I don’t know why he always asks. They’re welcome here.” Bucky opened a cabinet to grab a bag of chips. “Did you eat my Doritos again?”

“Is the world round?” Clint sat at the table, poking at his bowl with his spoon to make sure every Cheerio was wet with milk.

“Asshole.” Bucky took out a bag of sour cream and onion before sitting across from Clint. “Did you finish the presentation?”

“Was that my job or Sam’s?” Clint pushed the remaining bits of dry cereal down, visibly holding back a grin. The longer Bucky stared at him, the more Clint cracked until he snorted. “It’s done, relax. Got it finished as you were flirting with your online boy-toy.”

Bucky hoped to hell that he wasn’t blushing. “I wasn’t flirting with Iron.”

“You’re always flirting with Iron.” Clint shoved a spoonful into his mouth. “Oo meed who we-ax,” he said around the food.

Bucky flicked a chip at Clint, smirking as it landed in his bowl. “I am relaxed. And chew with your mouth closed, you cow.”

Clint loudly chewed for a moment before swallowing. “You’re a terrible liar,” he said before taking another bite -- chewing normal again.

“Whatever,” Bucky said as he took out his phone, “at least I’m pretty.” No new messages, which could be a good or a bad thing. “I’m going to bed.”

“Night, princess.”

Bucky flipped him off, heading back to his room. Friday couldn’t come fast enough.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony Stark, the self-proclaimed playboy billionaire, was hiding. Not like a child in a closet, no, but like an adult in his very expensive at-home workshop. And though the doors to said workshop were glass, they were _locked_ and nobody could get in. Thus, hiding. Like an adult would.

It was only a matter of time before Pepper, his CEO and Very Good Friend, found him. They had met years ago when he first started growing the company. Tony needed someone to help get his calendar in order -- Pepper hadn’t applied, but instead he found her on the front desk of the store he bought his office supplies from. A few conversations and a rather large money offer later, she had his days scheduled out a month in advanced. Everything went smoother after that.

Their friendship came slower and it took a while, but to Tony it felt instant. One moment she was meeting him every morning to go over his schedule, the next she had her shoes kicked off as they ate pizza in his living room. Tony wasn’t sure what he would have done without her.

However tonight, once she found him, she would probably drag him out to eat or socialize or sign papers -- none of which sounded at all appealing to Tony at the moment. But Pepper had hair like fire and the presence of a dragon; he’d be _stupid_ to piss her off by refusing to do whatever she asked. Not that she ever asked him to do bad things. She just wanted him to take care of himself since Tony was more than happy to just sip weird green-looking smoothies and the occasional fifth cup of coffee. What was wrong with that? Apparently a lot.

Sure enough, Tony had just finished making his smoothie when Pepper unlocked his workshop (because of _course_ she had the code) and stepped inside. One look from her disappointed face had Tony ignoring the smoothie and giving her his full attention, a wide smile on his face. At least that was never faked since he was genuinely always happy to see her -- even if she was mad at him.

“My favorite employee!” He clapped his hands together once before spreading them out beside him, welcoming her in the lab.

She rolled his eyes, but her lips quirked up just a bit. Tony counted it as a win. “Other way around, Tony, but nice to see you too,” she said, stopping beside him. Pepper had taken over the company months ago so Tony would have more time to do what he actually loved -- inventing and helping those who wanted to make their own inventions.

“What brings you down to my evil lair?”

“The usual.” She put a folder down on his desk. “Current plans for taking over the world are in here. Just need you to sign off on them and I can get our minions to work immediately. We can take Italy by surprise, I think.”

Tony laughed, knowing enough that the folder contained nothing of the sort. Sure enough, it was just the updated contract with Bruce Banner and Elizabeth Ross. The two were month-to-month contracts (as per their request) as they explored adjusting human DNA in order to cure disease. It was an interesting project and Tony hadn’t trusted the government to get a hold of it, so he offered them a nice deal before anyone else could. He and Bruce had become tentative friends, though the scientist tended to stick more to his private life with his partner.

“Everything looks good,” he said before signing his name. He already knew what it said, so it wasn’t like he needed to read through the packet again. Despite Pepper now running things, they felt it best that he sign off on any contracts that he had originally started. “When we take over France, I want their desserts.”

“I’ll make a note of it,” Pepper promised and took the folder back. “How was game night with your boyfriend?”

Others Tony would correct, but Pepper knew him better than anyone. He wasn’t stupid enough to deny that he had feelings for Shadow, even if he couldn’t voice them. Sure, Shadow flirted back with him, but they never talked about sexuality or who they dated. He hadn’t even planned on telling her about those “dates” with his friend at first. When one coincided with a meeting she planned, he gave in and told her why it was so important that he be at his computer. After that, Pepper insisted that all his date nights were penciled in and she was the first to know when they scheduled another game.

He still rolled his eyes at her nickname for Shadow. “Good as usual, but he had to leave early. He’s got a lot of work to do.”

“Don’t pout, it’s not like he left forever.” Pepper pulled up a chair before kicking her heels off. “I ordered food, by the way. I swear, you’re the only reason that Chinese place a block over is open all night.”

“Marry me,” Tony said, clasping his hands together to beg her. “For real, right now.”

Pepper shook her head, unable to keep the smile off her face. “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. Again. You know I can’t be tied down to the ruler of the world.”

“Okay, but you’re missing out.” Tony winked at her, enjoying their play. It was one of the many reasons they grew close since she could flow with his weird way of communication. “I hear I’m good in bed.”

“I’m sure you are, but I’d rather not know from first-hand experience.”

Tony reached down to take Pepper’s feet so he could prop them on his lap. He then went about giving her a massage to help the ache he knew she had. Why she ever wore heels, he would never know. Part of him wanted to make it mandatory to wear flats while in the workplace, but he knew better than to get Pepper Potts to change her mind. If she wanted to wear heels, he would let her until the day she died.

“We set for Friday?” he asked, pressing his thumb into a knot he felt in her arch.

“The CB Audiotech group? Yes, we are.” Pepper closed her eyes, relaxing her head back on the chair. “You don’t need to be there if you can’t make it. Especially since you already said you wanted to give them a contract despite not knowing their entire business model. How is it you’re still in business?”

“I’ll still try to be there,” Tony said, ignoring her last comment.

“You have a meeting right before it with the board about the R&D. I think that’s going to run over.” Pepper wiggled her toes as Tony reached a particularly good spot. “I might marry your hands...”

Tony laughed and tickled the soft part of her foot before continuing with his massage. “My hands are always yours, you know that. And I’ll make sure the meeting doesn’t run over. It’s my name on the building, is it not?”

She lifted her head to stare at him. “Behave and I’ll give your pet project a better office to work in.”

Tony smiled, figuring that Pepper knew the _exact_ reason he wanted to give CB Audiotech a contract without looking at them. Shadow spoke sometimes of his two mostly-deaf friends and how it was a struggle for them in loud places when sign language wasn’t an option. This group was working on specific hearing aids that would help cut down background noise and increase the volume of whoever you happened to be looking at. If the project worked as promised, Tony wanted to try and convince Shadow to let Tony give his two friends testing models for free, which was the real reason behind the entire meeting.

“You can’t use them as blackmail forever, you know.”

“I know, but I can try.” Pepper pulled her feet away and set them back on the ground. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.”

“Thanks, Pep.” Tony leaned over to help out her heels back on. “Let me know everything if you finish before I do?”

“Always planning on it.” She stood and stretched before leaning over and placing a kiss to Tony’s cheek. “Come on, food should be here soon and then you need to rest.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile and let her pull him to stand. “Yes, okay, I’m going.”

“Good.” Still holding onto his hand, Pepper led him upstairs to the dining room.

Happy Hogan, Tony’s friend and personal driver, was already there sorting out three bags of food. The man had been driving a cab when they met and Tony immediately hired him the moment Happy was able to safely outrun a group of paparazzi that tried to get to him after his parents died. Though the two of weren’t that close, Happy and Pepper were. His two friends had been on and off dating for a while; Tony was happy enough to watch and wait for them to get their act together.

“I was told late-night food with leftovers was needed,” he said, folding up one of the empty bags. “I figured you’d eat it all eventually, so I just got one of everything.”

“Except that garlic sauce stuff, right?”

“Except that garlic sauce stuff,” Happy agreed, folding the second bag. “Chopsticks or forks tonight?”

Tony scoffed and sat down, grabbing a container that had brown sauce dripping from it. Beef and broccoli, perfect. “I don’t want to deal with chopsticks. Give me a fork.”

“Heathen,” Pepper teased as she stabbed a fork into the beef in front of Tony. She picked up chopsticks for herself before sitting. “Where’s the shrimp?”

“Just for you.” Happy pushed over a few containers before taking a seat next to her. “You do realize it’s almost one in the morning, right?”

“After-midnight Chinese is the best,” Tony insisted, shoving broccoli into his mouth.

Without even having to ask for it, Pepper put a box of white rice in front of him. “I do have to agree with him, Happy.”

“Of course you do.” Happy shook his head and grabbed a fork for himself. “What are we doing this weekend?”

“The same as normal?” Tony shrugged.

“If you don’t need me, I was thinking of seeing my mom.”

Tony waved him off. “Go ahead. Make sure you bring back some of her lemon bars.”

Happy smiled, pulling out his phone to type out a message. “I can do that.”

Tony relaxed back, looking between Pepper and Happy as the three of them are their late-night dinner. Except for his time with Shadow, this was his favorite part of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Friday couldn’t come fast enough for Bucky’s nerves. He barely slept the night before, only managing to knock himself out a few hours before his alarm went off. Thankfully, Thursday Bucky was nice to Friday Bucky and had the coffee machine prepped and waiting to be brewed. The smell had brought Clint out of his room and they were both downstairs just in time for Sam’s car to pull up.

“I’m shocked,” Sam said as the doors shut. “I thought I was going to have to go up there and drag your asses out.”

Bucky glanced to the backseat where Clint was already relaxed back, head against the window. “I made strong coffee.”

“Smart. Are you nervous?” Sam fiddled with the radio until music came on. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Everything but an awake partner. What a fucking cheater.”

Sam laughed and handed Bucky a small stack of notecards. “Let him get that extra bit of rest. You know how he is.”

“We spoil him too much.” Bucky flipped through a few of the cards before tucking them into a pocket. He knew the presentation by heart, but the safety of the cards comforted him. The last thing he wanted to do was make a fool of himself in front of a potential future boss.

Sam pulled onto the highway. “Okay, so when we walk in there, don’t act like you already own the place. If Stark is there, he’s just going to take that as a challenge and your shot will be lost. We don’t want that to happen.”

“Sam,” Bucky said with a sigh.

“And don’t bad mouth his stuff,” Sam continued, ignoring him. “I heard a rumor about this intern that mentioned the design of something was ugly and the kid hasn’t been hired anywhere since--” 

“That’s not--”

“Keep your opinions to yourself, and shut Clint up if he tries to say something bad.”

“Sam--”

“Also whatever you do, do  _ not _ drop your prototypes. If you haven’t perfected the casing, you don’t want them to shatter because that would blow this, too. Unless you plan on doing that as an example of how--”

“Sam!” Bucky put a hand on his friend’s arm. “Relax. You sound more nervous about this than we do.”

“Isn’t that my job?”

Bucky smiled. “Just chill, please. You did all the hard work of getting us here, now let us finish the job.”

“Yes, boss.”

Sam rolled his eyes and turned off the highway. “Wake up Sleeping Beauty. Get the drool off him before we get there.”

Bucky shifted so he could reach in the back and swat at Clint’s leg to get his friend awake. It didn’t take much since he was generally a light sleeper. “You owe me burgers,” he said, turning back to the front. “Abandoning me to Sam’s panic. Not cool.”

“You like Sam’s panic,” Clint accused and stretched.

“Asshole,” Bucky muttered as the car turned toward Stark Tower.

Sam guided their car to the garage and, after showing their pass, went inside. The guest parking was close, so it wasn’t long before they were on their way up the elevator to the main floor. A man waited for them and took them to another elevator without question. Clint yawned as he leaned against the wall, watching the numbers climb. He at least stood up straighter when the elevator stopped, doors opening with a  _ ding _ .

By the time they were in the meeting room, led there by a perky secretary, Bucky felt nauseous. He sat down in a chair next to Sam while Clint paced, muttering to himself so he wouldn’t forget details. Not that it was needed; they both knew the presentation. It was a build-up of five years of work.

Job interviews, though.

Clint stopped pacing as soon as the door opened, letting a tall red-haired woman into the room. Bucky immediately recognized Pepper Potts from her cover shot on  _ Robotics Weekly _ . Her smile was just as genuine as it was then and it immediately relaxed him. He returned the smile, tugging Clint down into a chair, and let Sam stand to take her hand as they previously discussed. Don’t overwhelm, stay sitting and calm.

“Nice to meet you in person, Ms. Potts,” Sam said before taking his seat again. “My name is Sam Wilson and we spoke on the phone several times.”

“Nice to put a face to the voice.” She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear before sitting across from them. “And you must be...”

“Clint Barton  and this is James Barnes.” Clint gave her a mock salute. “At your service.”

Pepper put her papers down so she could sign as she talked. “You are hard of hearing?”

Clint grinned and signed  _ Very good, I am _ . “It’s nice to see a larger company taking interest in our work.”

“Mister Stark is curious to where this will go and wishes to help anyone who needs it with this technology.” Pepper opened the folder and slid it across the desk. “You’ll find in here everything you requested as well as a few extras.”

Bucky leaned over Sam’s shoulder to read the list. “Already? I figured...”

“Mister Stark has complete faith in you.” Pepper reached over to flip the page. “If you agree, you just need to sign here.”

“Wait a moment,” Sam said, picking up the contract. “It says here this is a bi-monthly contract. What does that mean?”

“It means you get it renewed every two months. We are confident that CB Audiotech is something that we want to keep on full-term, but we need to make sure you can produce a product first. Just a stipulation in our contracts from our board so we don’t hang onto those who no longer wish to produce technology to Stark Industries standards.”

Bucky shared a look with Clint, the nerves coming back. “Will we get a warning if our contract is to be terminated”

“Yes, you will be warned. If it’s at the end of the two months, we will give you another monthly contract so you have time to find another position somewhere else. But if it’s in the middle, you’ll have until the end of your current contract.” She shrugged. “It’s a risk on both sides, so we need to protect our company.”

“Understandable,” Sam said, flipping through the papers. “Do you mind if we discuss this?”

“Of course.” She stood. “Alert Darcy in the hall when you’re finished and I’ll come back. If you want to sign, we’ll just need her to witness.”

Bucky didn’t think they were going to get another opportunity and all he wanted to do was sign, but Sam knew what he was doing. So Bucky sat there as Sam read and re-read the contract in front of him. Clint had a few questions, but Bucky barely heard them being asked.

This was it, this was their opportunity. He got up and paced behind Sam’s chair, every flip of the paper pushing him closer to some edge he couldn’t see. Clint caught his eye, but Bucky just shook his head and stuck his thumbnail in his mouth, chewing on it. If this worked, if Stark Industries sponsored them, Bucky could potentially make  _ all _ of the prototypes he wanted. His many notebooks of ideas would become reality. He could finally  _ help _ people -- really help them.

After what felt like hours, Sam let out a breath and gave them a smile. “Let’s get us a sponsor.”

After that, the signing didn’t take that long and soon Pepper was escorting them to an office bigger than his shared apartment with Clint. The equipment they asked for was there, as well as a catalog for anything else they might need. As Sam continued to talk with her about specifics, Bucky went up to Clint and put his arm around him.

“Can you believe this place?”

“Not really.” Clint sat down on one of the padded stools “Christ these are comfortable.”

Bucky laughed, joy filling him as he turned in a circle. “I feel like this is a dream.”

“Don’t wake me up with your snoring, then.” Clint ran his hand over the desk. “Bucky?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.” Clint turned to face him. “Without you, this wouldn’t... We wouldn’t be here.”

Bucky scoffed, nudging Clint’s shoulder. “I could say the same thing to you. Come on, let’s say thanks to Ms. Potts and then get to rearranging this place.”

“Wheel me there?”

“Lazy,” Bucky teased, but he still did as he was asked.

Sam covered his face with his hand as Bucky pushed Clint over to where he was still standing with Pepper, but the woman just watched them with an amused smile. Since he wasn’t completely nice, Bucky pushed Clint  _ just  _ a bit too far, making him run into the wall behind her. He laughed while Clint muttered under his breath.

“Sorry about that,” he told Pepper. “Sometimes I can’t help myself.”

“You’re quite all right,” she assured them with a smile. “Mister Stark will love having you in the building, I’m sure. As smart as he is, sometimes he doesn’t quite act his age either.”

Sam let out a breath and motioned for the door. “Shall we talk further while they plan with your movers, Ms. Potts?”

“Of course.” She handed Bucky a card. “Call this number and they can get you sorted with moving your equipment. They’re trusted.”

“I would expect nothing less from Stark Industries.” Bucky pulled out his phone. “Thanks for everything.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she teased. “Prove to us that you deserved to be here.”

“We fully plan on it,” Clint said as he wheeled the chair back. “We won’t let you down.”

“I have no doubt,” Pepper said and led Sam out the door.

Once the door shut, Bucky and Clint looked at each other before laughing, still shocked that it had been this easy.


	4. Chapter 4

“Remind me again why we took this quest?” Tony asked as they approached an ornate golden door. “Not that I mind the experience points, but this seems almost too easy.”

In his ear, Shadow let out a sigh before his wizard stepped to the door. “ _ You say that, but then we’re attacked and you scream _ .”

Tony scoffed, turning to make sure there were no hidden enemies around them. “I do not scream when we’re attacked.”

“ _ Whatever you say. Damn I hate riddles. _ ”

Tony turned back so he could see Shadow and the riddle that formed on the door. “You’re the one that wanted to be the wizard,” he teased. “Need help?”

“ _ Nah, I got it. I just hate it _ .”

This wasn’t a game they played often, but Tony had a guilty pleasure for the outfits they could get from playing. His warrior was dressed in the typical garb. His riding pants were covered by knee-height metal guards for his legs with chainmail dangling down to get the rest. Custom red armor covered his chest and shoulders, leaving his arms mostly free of any decor until his golden gauntlets. A scabbard hung at his waist, carrying the latest sword that caught his attention. Tony had ignored the helmet, having spent way too long customizing his character’s face to hide it behind anything. The knight looked as close to his own face as he could, though obviously the facial hair was missing. That mod hadn’t come about yet.

Meanwhile, Shadow’s wizard, intimidating in the latest wardrobe update, was outfitted more like a rogue. His form-fitting black leathers hugged every bit of muscle that the wizard had. Over time, Shadow added shin guards that covered from his knees to his toes and gauntlets that came up to his elbows -- both black dragon scale. A torn, red cape billowed out behind him, hiding the silver daggers attached to his back. On his hip hung a small bag that held an assortment of potions as well as Shadow’s spellbook; how it all fit in it, Tony would never know. Game magic, probably.

“ _ It’s open _ ,” Shadow said. “ _ We still good _ ?”

“No enemies, let’s go.” Tony backed up so he could still see where they came from, just in case the game decided to throw them any surprises. Once the door shut, he turned back around to get a good look at the empty room. “Huh.”

“ _ Think it’s a glitch _ ?”

“Could be, but let’s look.” Tony went to the nearest wall, making sure to go slow. “Next time we play a game with riddles, we’re both mages or wizards. Whatever they’re called.”

Shadow laughed. “ _If they’ll let us._ I think I found something.”

“Yeah?” Tony turned to watch him.

Shadow reached into his robes and pulled out a blue-colored ball. His hands waved in a large pattern before dropping the ball on the floor in front of him. The room burst into light, almost blinding him for a moment, before it cleared and symbols illuminated the wall. Tony stepped closer to the middle so he could turn and see them all.

“Damn...”

“ _ Now what _ ?”

“Hell if I know.” Tony paced the room again. “What spell did you use?”

“ _ I don’t know, it just told me to press ‘x’ and I did. _ ”

“Press X for Jason,” he muttered. Tony hesitated by the door they came in. “Wait, I think I see something. Come here.”

Shadow moved next to Tony and they both stared at the symbols here, glowing a different color than the room. After a moment, Shadow raised a hand and rearranged two of them -- the first brightened before turning the same color as the room.

“ _ I get it... We have to match the room! _ ”

Tony rolled his eyes and turned, calling out the description of the symbols as Shadow worked. When he was done, the room glowed brightly again but this time when the light disappeared, there was a pile of gold, jewels, and chests in the center of the room. ‘ _ Congratulations _ ’ also flashed across the screen as the gold was immediately added to their separate accounts.

“ _ That’s... it? _ ”

“Apparently. Was one of us on easy mode maybe?”

Shadow laughed as the game brought them back to the main quest selection screen. “ _ Probably. Well, damn, but at least I got enough for that cool hat _ .”

“That ugly thing? Oh come  _ on _ .”

“ _ You’re just jealous you can’t get it. _ ” 

He really wasn’t, but Tony didn’t feel like teasing too much. Instead, he just laughed and went to see what he could get in the costume shop. “Well that was a good waste of an hour.” Tony clicked through a few things before remembering what today had been. “Oh! How’d that thing go?”

“ _ My meeting? Great actually. We have a temporary set up, but I’m sure we won’t have an issue becoming permanent. _ ”

“Who was it with?”

“ _ NDA agreements, sorry. But hey, at least it’s something. _ ”

Tony had to resist the urge to dig more information, especially since he used his own NDA agreements for people that worked for him. But he was glad that Shadow seemed to be doing better and going somewhere with his work. Tony didn’t know much about it, just that his friend had an engineering degree and worked with his roommate on various projects.

“ _ The only bad thing is I’m going to have less time to play around like this. _ ”

“Such is life,” Tony said with a sigh. “We both knew it was going to happen eventually.”

“ _ Yeah, I guess. _ ” They were both quiet for a moment before Shadow let out a small huff. “ _ I don’t have enough for this damn hat after all. Want to do another _ ?”

No, Tony really didn’t because it wasn’t his favorite game, but there was no way he could turn down his friend’s request. “Bring it on, Shadow.”

Shadow’s response was to laugh and pull them into another quest for hidden treasure. “ _ So I was thinking. Now that I’ve got this nice new sponsorship thing with my super secret company, we should finally get around to sending surprises again _ .”

Tony smiled, cracking his knuckles while the new game screen loaded. “I’m always up for sending you something stupid in the mail.”

During Shadow’s college days, he had enough left over from scholarships or his part-time job that he could afford to send Tony stupid little gifts. They weren’t much -- a trinket he had found in some store, or a comic that made him laugh. Tony had been tempted to send Shadow bigger things, but knew better than to flaunt his wealth like that, and the exchange had still been fun.

“We’d have to exchange addresses again.” That shouldn’t be an issue -- Tony had a P.O. Box in Happy’s name for anything he didn’t want going through the tower’s mail sorting system. “Hey mister wizard, I think there’s a boulder ahead with your name on it.”

“ _ Be prepared for the ambush, then _ .” Shadow’s wizard stepped forward to blow the boulder out of their path.

Sure enough, as soon as it was gone, they were surrounded by a small horde of imps. No taller than their knees, the purple devils were enough to give Tony issues as a fighter. He made sure he was far enough away from Shadow that he wouldn’t cause damage before simply swinging away at them, hoping to hit more often than miss.

“ _ Strategy! Come on, Iron, don’t _ \--”

“Doing my best!” Tony interrupted. “I hate their pointy teeth and I hate their sharp ears and I  _ hate _ that they like to gather by the dozens!”

Shadow let out a sigh and Tony laughed, jabbing the keys harder as if that would help him defeat the imps faster. Thankfully it didn’t take long to clear the annoyances out of the area, letting the two of them continue on down the road. He knew Shadow had taken an easier hunt, probably close enough to his hat that he didn’t need all that much coin to get it. That just meant it would be shorter and the boss puzzle not as hard.

“ _ If I weren’t here to save your ass in this, you wouldn’t have gotten past level fifty _ ,” Shadow teased him. “ _ Don’t like something? Let me swing my big sword and hope for the best. _ ”

“Same as I do in real life, then.”

“ _ Except your sword is your dick _ .”

Tony snorted, cutting away a bit of vines that were in their way. “If I swung that around at my job, I’m sure I wouldn’t have one anymore. But good idea, I’ll try it next time.”

“ _ I want video evidence _ .”

“If you wanted a dick pic so bad, you could have just asked...”

“ _ You can’t see me, but I’m rolling my eyes. _ ”

He grinned, letting Shadow take point on the next section. They were already to the temple, meaning that there would be more use for his skills from now on. Maybe the occasional temple guard would pop up, but otherwise Tony was now just along for the ride and to help out with the puzzles inside.

“ _ DM me your address once we’re done with this and I can put together a little package for you. I’ve been collecting stuff. _ ”

“For me? Aw, babe, thanks.” Tony moved forward to take down a giant spider that stepped in their way. “Fuck I hate those things.”

“ _ You hate everything in here. _ ” Shadow pressed on until they came to a door.

This was definitely the entrance, but there were runes Tony didn’t recognize on the front. “The hell is this?”

“ _ A puzzle, obviously. Time to search _ ,  _ but don’t overthink it. _ ”

“You mean like ignoring the obvious book that over here on this boulder?” Tony clicked to open the book. “Okay, next time no matter what, we’re at least doing normal mode. This is stupidly easy.”

“ _ What’s it say?” _

“It’s a poem riddle, but basically we hit the door at the same time.” Tony shut the book before moving to stand by Shadow. “Ready?”

“ _ One... two... _ ”

“Three!”

They both jerked toward the door, bursting it open with a combination of magic and strength. There wasn’t even a second riddle inside -- just a small pile of treasure waiting for them to pick up. Tony snorted, got his share, and let the game return him to the main screen.

“ _ Yeah, next time we’re on medium _ ,” Shadow agreed. “ _ But hey! I got my hat!” _

Tony could only laugh at the excitement of something so simple. It was partly why he had fallen for Shadow. Not that he would ever tell him.


	5. Chapter 5

Some weird rock group was blasting through the speakers of their new office and Bucky wished he could change it, but a bet was a bet -- it was Clint’s turn to control the music while they worked. He mostly ignored it, too focused on the wires in front of him anyway. Clint’s earpiece had static when he turned it on this morning. Nothing big, but Bucky didn’t want any bugs in their equipment, so he wanted to look at it.

That left Clint with inferior hearing aids, thus the stupidly loud music.

Bucky flashed the lights (Pepper had pointed out the controls on their supplied computers, which was awesome) to get Clint’s attention. His friend held up a finger to indicate that he saw, but to give him a moment to finish what he was doing. Sorting something, it looked like, but Bucky wasn’t going to question. He trusted Clint not to waste time, so he turned back to the wires.

The music lowered a moment later and Clint rolled up next to Bucky. “What’s up, Doc?”

“Did you shower with this?”

“Say again?”

Bucky turned to face Clint to he could sign the question as he asked it again. “Did you take a shower with the piece in?”

Clint at least was smart enough to look guilty at his mistake. “Not on purpose?”

“I hadn’t made it waterproof yet, I told you to be careful.” Bucky turned back so he could finish closing it up.

“Don’t get mad at me. We both knew it was going to happen.” Clint pushed away from Bucky’s desk to go back to his own. “Besides, I found something that’ll help.” Bucky was quiet, knowing Clint wouldn’t fully hear him if he said anything anyway. Sure enough, it didn’t take his friend long to continue. “It’s a bit more expensive than we were thinking of, but tests show that it’s durable and waterproof up to four feet.”

“That’s not enough for a pool,” said a voice by the door.

Bucky jerked his head up and his eyes widened as he saw  _ the _ Tony Stark standing in their office door frame, arms crossed over his chest. His suit was pressed and his tie perfect -- he looked exactly as he usually did whenever Bucky saw him on television or a magazine. And sure, the guy was attractive as hell, but Bucky had to push those thoughts down because this was his  _ boss _ . He let himself have all the fantasies he wanted before, but now they had to be off limits -- this wasn’t some romance novel where he got to have sex with his stupidly hot boss.

“We didn’t expect you,” he said, flashing the lights again to get Clint’s attention. “But, uh... welcome. Come on in.”

Clint scrambled for a better earpiece as soon as he realized what was going on and Bucky handed it to him wordlessly. He didn’t believe Sam’s worries about being fired or anything worse, but he also didn’t want Clint to make a fool of himself in front of the more powerful man in the room.

Clint finished adjusting the earpiece before giving Mister Stark a wide smile. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“Sir was my father, you can call me Tony.” Tony pushed off the door frame and walked along the outside edge of the room with his hands in his pockets. It didn’t look like he knew ASL as Ms. Potts did. Bucky was glad they had at least one piece that would work for Clint.

“Right, Tony.”

They sat there, watching Tony wander the room. They were warned that Tony might stop by sometimes to see what they were doing, but Bucky hadn’t expected it so soon. Part of him felt as if the man had no confidence in them, but then he had to remember that Tony Stark ran a huge company -- checking up on the newer people who could potentially lose him millions was smart. He tried to push the feeling behind him.

“Don’t stop working on my account,” Tony said, stopping by one of the computers to take a closer look at the screen. “I just like to check in, see what’s going on.”

That just made Bucky more nervous, but he could try. He did his best to ignore the billionaire and focused on Clint instead. “Tell me more about this thing you found? Has it been tested deeper than four feet, or is that all they tried?”

Clint eyed Tony for a moment before focusing back on Bucky as well. “Not like we trust those tests anyway. I think we should make a prototype and then find a pool.”

“You just want an excuse to use a diving board,” Bucky accused with a smile. 

“Why are you just now looking at waterproofing it?” Tony asked, cutting into their conversation.

Bucky had started to feel calmer with their banter, but Tony’s interjection threw him off. He stared at the billionaire with a frowned. “What?”

Tony stepped closer and pointed to the earpiece Bucky was working on. “Waterproofing electronics should be the first thing.”

Bucky  _ hated _ when people questioned his process and Clint knew that. Thankfully, the blond kicked his chair over to grab Tony’s attention. “We made them for me first and I hate having anything in my ears if I’m in the shower. We figured we’d get me a working pair before moving forward with adjustments and when Sam landed us this contract, we knew that had to be the next thing we went with.”

“That makes sense. So, this material you’ve found...?”

“Right.” Bucky turned away from Tony to focus on Clint. “Get some, let’s do it. In the meantime, let’s see if we can program what we have to give off some kind of alert. So if someone doesn’t want the waterproof version, they can be reminded if they’re still wearing it before they get in the shower or something.”

“Already ahead of you on that. I...” Clint trailed off, looking at something behind Bucky.

Bucky turned, frowning when he saw Tony flipping through one of their many notebooks. He knew by signing with Stark Industries, they were allowing this to happen, but he didn’t expect it so soon. As if realizing the room went quiet, Tony looked up and gave them a small shrug.

“Curiosity, sorry. Are all of them this messy?” he asked, wiggling one of the papers as if they didn’t know what he was talking about. “Are there digital versions of these anywhere?”

“Of course we digitize,” Clint said. “When we get a block, we usually type some of it up until we’re unblocked.” Clint sat backward in his chair, resting his arms on the back of it. “That was one of our first.”

“Your first notes?” Tony looked back down at them. “That explains the mess.”

“Yeah, years ago.” Bucky frowned, trying to remember when exactly they started this while also ignoring how Tony’s words grated on his nerves. “Sophomore year? Junior?”

“Hell if I know,” Clint said with a shrug.

“They’re good for a first idea.” Tony closed the notebook. “Seems like you two are going to go far with this.

“That was the plan.” Bucky clenched his fist as Tony picked up another notebook to flip through. He hated people touching his stuff even if he had nothing to hide. “We didn’t want to stick with just hearing aids, either. It’s just our focus right now.”

“Good focus. Is this... is this not battery operated?”

Clint leaned up to see what notebook Tony was looking at before laughing. “God, we were drunk for that one. Throwing out ideas of what we wanted in the end. The one I got plugs in like a FitBit to charge, but sometimes people aren’t always around a plug.”

“It’s a good goal to have.” Tony rubbed at his goatee and Bucky had the urge to find a dull razor and shave it off. He shook that thought off; Tony hadn’t deserved that -- he hadn’t done anything more than touch their notes. “Any ideas on how to do that yet?”

Bucky wanted to grab all of their notebooks and hold them to his chest like a child. “We’re working on it,” he said instead, giving Tony a shrug. “Don’t worry, boss, we’ll keep you informed. It was in our contract, after all.” He hoped he hadn’t come across as too annoyed, but the look Clint shot him said he failed that spectacularly.

Once he was done cursing Bucky with his eyes, Clint turned and gave Tony a bright smile. “He means that nicely.”

Tony winked at Clint before moving on to stare at a whiteboard they had covered with notes. Not all of them were relevant, but that’s how they worked. “It’s better than the nervous stuttering I usually get.”

Bucky had to hold himself back from jerking forward when Tony picked up a marker and made a correction on their formula. He bit down hard on his tongue, holding back the ugly remark he wanted to make about consent and permission -- it wouldn’t do either of them any good to get kicked out this early.

“I look forward to seeing what you guys do,” Tony said as he put the marker down. Have a good day, gentlemen.”

Clint waited until Tony was out the door before he smacked Bucky across the top of his head. “What the  _ hell _ was that for?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bucky walked to the board to look over what Tony did. 

“Your attitude with Stark. We  _ need _ this, Buck.”

“I know that.” The bastard was right in the formulation fix and Bucky hated him more. “I’ll behave next time, I promise.”

“You’re a liar, but I’m going to hold you to it still.” Clint sat down. “Come on, let’s get back to work.”


	6. Chapter 6

Tony spun in his chair, typing away on his phone as he waited for the call to come in on his computer. His weekly phone call with his best friend was probably the only thing he was ever early for -- and didn’t that bother Pepper. Still, when Rhodey only had a certain time frame to get a call in, Tony wasn’t about to screw that up by being late.

His best friend had started out in the Air Force, but quickly found out that flying a plane in combat wasn’t for him. Since he was too good to be let go, he trained troops during downtime, and ran ground ops otherwise. Tony never asked what exactly he was doing and Rhodey had never offered -- phone time was to forget about the rough stuff in life.

Tony gently tossed his phone on the desk as the ring started through his computer speakers. “Answer,” he said, settling his chair and ignoring the way the room spun still. Nothing he couldn’t handle. “Honey bear!”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, his tan uniform crisp against his dark skin. That was better than last week when Tony could see a bit of blood on the dirty collar. Both of them had avoided mentioning it -- war was war, after all.

“ _One day, someone is going to overhear you and then I’ll have to threaten discipline if they ever repeat that nickname to me._ ”

“You enjoy it and you can’t lie.” Tony blew a kiss to Rhodey before continuing. “How’s the desert?”

“ _Hot. How’s the new recruits_?”

Tony had been talking about CB Audiotech ever since Pepper got in contact with them. He was a little shocked that Rhodey remembered they had started last Friday, but he figured somebody in their friend group should have a good memory. Might as well be Rhodey. Still, he smirked, giving his friend a wink. “Hot.”

“ _Tony..._ ”

“Okay, okay. Keep your pants on, princess. You’re the only guy for me after all.”

“ _And your online boytoy Shadow..._ ”

Tony leaned back, getting more comfortable and ignoring the jab at his crush. “So we’ve got Barnes and Barton. They look like they should be on a beach somewhere surfing or hitting up girls, but they’re in my tower, inventing the best hearing aids I’ve seen.”

Rhodey laughed. “ _Jealous_?”

“Ridiculously. I didn’t even think about tapping that market! And here they are, fresh out of _college_ for Christ sake, and already on their way to changing the industry.”

“ _Fresh out of college either means they’re way too young for you, or they’re your age. Which is it?_ ”

“Not that much younger than me. Maybe two years?” Tony turned his chair back and forth, pouting at the screen. He wasn’t really that upset, but it made Rhodey smile to see him over-reacting anyway. Tony would cry if it could get Rhodey to let loose and really laugh. “Enough about them. Tell me I’m the smartest inventor?”

“ _You’re the smartest inventor_ ,” Rhodey said, shaking his head. “ _Tell me more_.”

“Barton is the inspiration behind all this. He’s got one of their prototypes in his ear and if it works as their notes says it does, then he’s got better hearing than we do.”

“ _You think the military might--_ ”

“I already filed that away, sweetie. No offense, but the military can make their own if they want to try to hear between closed doors.” Tony stopped his chair. “That’s what you were worried about, right?”

“ _Among other things_.”

Tony shrugged and went back to moving his chair as he talked. “Private contract, so I can’t share with you, darling.” If he hadn’t gotten CB Audiotech into a private contract, he was sure the military would already be at his doorstep. He did some work with them because of old ties with weapons, but he tried to limit the amount of technology he gave. He didn’t trust them not to abuse it.

“ _My heart is breaking._ ” Rhody leaned back to look off-screen for a moment before nodding and turning back to the screen. “ _I just got called back. You going to be okay?_ ”

“Of course I am. Why would you ask?”

Rhodey smirked and stood, but he was still leaning over to look into the screen. “ _Just want to make sure you’re not thinking of cheating on your Shadow with these new guys._ ”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You asshole, I’m not cheating on anyone but you.”

“ _Whatever you say, Tony_. _I’ll check in later_.”

Tony smiled at his best friend before the screen shut off. Usually, their time together was longer, but nothing was predictable with the military. They’ve had calls that lasted thirty seconds before -- Tony always complained about it the next time they talked.

With the phone call interrupted, though, it left his night free. He logged online to his gaming server and grinned when he saw that Shadow was idle. They weren’t scheduled for a game tonight, but maybe...? He sat forward in his seat and sent off a message to his friend before getting up to get more comfortable. It had been a long week and he could use some downtime.

He hummed something under his breath as he peeled off his tie and jacket, glad to be out of both. While most people were used to him in expensive suits and name-brand watches, Tony was most comfortable lounging around in one of his many cheap t-shirts and sweatpants. Pepper claimed the look humbled him, but Tony figured it was the only time he could actually be _himself_. No pretending to suck up to the board or to make sure everybody loved him. Just Tony.

His computer made a _ding_ of a message arriving by the time Tony got back to his computer. No longer idle and still typing, it was a fast “:O” from Shadow. Tony laughed to himself; he would have been shocked too. When they were in school, they could come online whenever and play around, but now nights were scheduled as real life came into play. Impromptu games on a whim were rare.

 

 **Man_of_shadows:** Shit I thought you had a meeting tonight!

 **Man_of_shadows:** Give me ten minutes to grab something to stuff in my face.

 

Tony could do that. He probably should eat himself, but the hunger just wasn’t there. Besides, he was sure he had a bag or two of chips somewhere around the room -- it was just a matter of finding them during the times when his character was dead.

 

 **Iron_knight:** Meet me in vengers. My armor could use a new paint job.

 **Iron_knight:** Mics already on, too.

 

There wasn’t much more to do than wait, so Tony started up the game and went to the customize screen. He had a few sets of armor for all the characters available, even if he generally liked to use Iron Man. Because of his namesake, sure, but also because he loved the ease of controls and flight. Falcon and Thor also flew, but he found that Iron Man gave a more stable experience. He could use weapons and steer, unlike Falcon, and be able to bank easier, unlike Thor. Plus with the hammer as a weapon, he had to wait for it to come back before he could make another assault.

He loved being Shadow’s air support, too. His friend preferred sticking low to the ground, hiding among the rubble and dirt. Shadow had used most of the ground fighters except for Hawkeye ( _“I can’t shoot an arrow for shit!”_ ), but stuck to the Winter Soldier more often than not. For what reason, Tony didn’t know -- Shadow seemed to change it every time he asked so he just let it be. Not that it mattered in the end because they made a great team.

A crackle came over Tony’s speakers and he grinned, putting on his headset so the mic didn’t eco. “Took you long enough, damn.”

“ _I ate cold pizza for you. I hope you’re happy._ ”

“Very much so.” Tony saved what he had been working on for his character before going back to the waiting screen. “Invite me when you’re set up.”

“ _Yeah, one sec_.”

Shadow hummed and Tony smiled again, recognizing the tune. He didn’t think Shadow was a Flo Rida fan, but who didn’t know _Low_? “Who actually wore apple-bottom jeans anyway?”

Shadow laughed. “ _I don’t know, I think I could rock the fur boots._ ”

“You could rock anything you put on,” Tony teased as the invite came up to join a game. “This you?”

“ _Yeah, you big tease, that’s me. I grabbed a room looking for our characters._ ”

Shadow at least sounded amused, so Tony didn’t see a reason to stop his shameless flirting. “Ever try a birthday suit? I bet that’s the best outfit you have.”

“ _Iron! Christ, I mean... You’re not_ wrong _, but you wouldn’t know that._ ” The loading screen faded out, putting them in the middle of a demolished street. “ _Quit trying to get into my digital pants and let’s just kick some ass._ ”

“Yes, sir,” Tony told him, letting Iron Man take off to the skies.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters a day until Friday. :) Then I get to update this with the FANTASTIC art!

The Soldier pressed his back against a wall as he reloaded his weapon. So far the rest of the team was still alive, still searching for the hidden chest that held the prize. He had gotten separated at some point in the last skirmish, but it had also given him a better vantage point to pick off the Skrulls. The slimy bastards spawned near where he was, so all he had to do was get a clear eye on the spot.

“ _ You dead over there _ ?”

Bucky snorted and turned to look around the wall. “You know I’m not, Iron. What’s your position?”

“ _ Better than yours _ .”

He aimed his gun and rolled his eyes. “You mean you have a hidden spot where you can easily pick off the Skrulls while your team hunts for the chest?”

“ _ Touche _ .”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Safe in his room, Bucky reached over to grab his water bottle, frowning as he realized it was empty. “I think I need a fridge in my room.”

“ _ I’ve been saying that for years, Shadow. _ ”

“Thanks, you sound like my boss.” Bucky grabbed his phone and, after making sure no Skrulls were on his screen, sent a quick text to Clint to bring him something to drink. “Kinda like him, at least.”

“ _ He tells you to put a fridge in your room _ ?”

“That would be creepy since he doesn’t know my personal life.” He went back to the controls, scanning his area. “He just talks to me like I’m a dumbass sometimes. Asks me why I thought of something one way and not the other.”

“ _ Did at least get better about touching your stuff? You said last week he kept poking things and moving stuff _ .”

“A little, yeah, but he still sticks his nose into things. Spawns.” Bucky took a few Skrulls out as they spawned -- a few of them ducked behind debris and scattered before he had the chance to take them out. “Damn. Five, I think, coming your way.”

“ _ You’re getting sloppy _ ,” Iron teased. “ _ In my sights, I think I can get some of them. _ ”

The in-game chat scrolled, letting them know that their other teammates (two people who just happened to join in) were potentially close to the chest. Bucky sent off an acknowledgment message. “Looks like you need to get all of them.”

“ _ Fantastic. _ ”

“Don’t sound so down,” Bucky said with a laugh as he picked off another few spawning Skrulls. “We all know you like to be front and center.”

“ _ You’re just cocky because your points are higher here. Next time, we’re going back to my castle. _ ”

“Because Prince Iron needs to be the best at everything.” Bucky rolled his eyes. “How you doing on that group of Skrulls?”

“ _ Working on it _ .”

“I think they’re close. They keep spawning now, but I’ve got it handled so far.” He bit his lip, adjusting the angle so he could get better at bottle-necking them at the source. “Damn, another two just got loose.”

“ _ Maybe you aren’t angry enough. What’s the worse thing your boss did this week _ ?”

“Oh please, like I can narrow it down.” Bucky frowned, ducking so he could reload. “He took my latest notes and rewrote over half of them. Without even looking at the process from step one to the current step, he just redid everything. I’m  _ still _ not done reconfiguring everything.”

“ _ What a douche. Did you say something?  _ Fuck, _ one got away from me. _ ”

Bucky barely saw as Iron typed out a message to the other two teammates. Sometimes he liked being on a private mic with Iron, and sometimes, like this, it sucked. Typing took up too much of their time; maybe he could invent a mic that switched channels, if there wasn’t already one out there. He’d have to bring it up with Clint after this was over.

“I haven’t seen him since he did it, so no,” he said. The screen faded just slightly and the image of a chest popped up, floating as gold fireworks shot out from around it. “Damn, the graphics are good on this game, so you’d think they do something better than that.” 

‘GG’ came through the chat and Bucky quickly returned the sentiment. After Iron sent it as well, the other two dropped and the waiting screen came up, showing just the Soldier and Iron Man standing in a war room. Iron Man turned his head every now and then in his default idle stance, while the Soldier went between aiming his gun at something off screen to scuffing his feet on the floor.

“ _ You have time to go again? _ ”

Bucky glanced at the clock and wrinkled his nose. “No, but what else is new. We should start doing these on weekends.”

Iron laughed, the sound bringing a smile to Bucky’s face. “ _ Spend a whole day wasting time online _ ?”

“What else are we supposed to do? Be adults?” Bucky shook his head, exiting out of the game. He’d open the chest later; if it happened to be new equipment, he wasn’t sure his willpower could keep him away from another round. “I hate this early morning crap.”

“ _ As is the life of a 9-5, but I told you that  _ before _ you decided to go off and get a contract somewhere. _ ”

“Yeah, yeah, the whole ‘I told you so’ bullshit you like to pull on me.” Bucky still smiled, leaning back in his chair. “Hey, thanks for letting me vent to you about my boss without really knowing anything.”

“ _ I get not being able to talk about work. I just hope he starts treating you like the genius you are. _ ”

Bucky grinned, ignoring the feel of his cheeks reddening. “You’re just saying that so I save your ass in game.”

“ _ It’s a nice ass and deserves to be saved. _ ”

“I’ll have to take your word for it, Iron.” Bucky looked at the clock again and groaned. “It’s almost midnight...”

“ _ And your computer will turn into a pumpkin, I know. Go on, then, get out of here. _ ”

“Yeah, yeah. See you later, Iron.”

“ _ Always a pleasure, Shadow _ .”

Bucky closed the conversation before taking off his headset. A night of gaming with his friend always relaxed him. He grabbed his phone to check for messages and laughed when he saw Clint’s answer to his request for a drink. _Not your butler, Barnes, ask your boyfriend._

“He’s not my boyfriend!” he called into their apartment, not even sure if Clint could hear him. It still made him feel better to shout it out anyway.

As soon as his computer was off, Bucky stood and made his way to the kitchen. Clint was there with another bag of Bucky’s chips in hand. Instead of looking guilty when he spotted Bucky, he stuffed another handful of crumbs in his mouth with a grin.

“You’re an asshole,” Bucky said before opening the fridge. When Clint didn’t respond, Bucky took a closer look to see that he wasn’t wearing the hearing aids -- that made sense. He put a box of random leftovers on the counter before signing, “Charging?”

Clint nodded and said through the food in his mouth, “Sho ‘ave oo.”

He laughed. “Want to repeat that?” he asked before putting some noodles on a plate. Looks like someone had gotten Thai at some point.

“Everybody should get two,” Clint said, leaning against the counter. “I mean, what if I needed to charge it and we were in the middle of a meeting? That would suck.”

“That’s a good point. We’ll need to see if we can get that to work money wise.” Bucky sighed. “We’ll see if maybe Sam can bring it up to Ms. Potts?”

“I’ll text him in the morning.” Clint crumpled up the empty chip bag and tossed it. “Have fun with your boyfriend?”

Instead of correcting him, Bucky simply flipped his friend off, focusing more on his food in the microwave than Clint’s answering laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony was running out of good excuses to visit his new recruits. The first few weeks were easy -- he had to check in on the work. But now that Barnes and Barton were well into their third version and proving that they could work magic with the tech, Tony really didn’t  _ need _ to be there. Barton didn’t seem to care, but he could see the tension on Barnes (and he always had to hold back the urge to offer to rub that tension out of the man’s body).

So he had to get creative. Today, he had the perfect idea.

“Good afternoon my two favorite elves,” he said as he walked into the room.  He saw Barnes roll his eyes, but decided to ignore it for now. “A little birdy told me that you two have been skipping lunch hour.”

Barton clutched a hand to his chest. “As if I would  _ skip _ food.”

Tony laughed, moving further into the room. “True, but shoving a sandwich down your throat as you tinker isn’t the best. Or so Pepper tells me.”

“Are we in trouble for eating in here?”

“Not at all, Barton.” Tony pulled out his phone. “However, I think you two deserve more than just peanut butter and jelly. Come on, lunch is on me!”

If anything, Barnes’ shoulders hunched further as he typed up something. “I appreciate the thought, but--”

“Ignore him,” Barton interrupted. “We’ll be glad to partake in your sustenance offer.”

“Kiss ass,” Barnes muttered. He straightened and said loud enough to actually be heard, “You two go on ahead. I’m good here.”

“He’s lying,” Barton said. “What’s for lunch?”

Something in Tony wanted to do  _ something _ to impress the stoic Barnes. What better than a fantastic lunch? “I was thinking of this place a few blocks from here. I go there often and can promise the food is five-star.”

Barnes arched an eyebrow. “Five-star usually means tiny portions and a run to Burger King after.”

“I promise, no need for burgers after.”

A look was shared between Barnes and Barton before Barnes sighed, pushing away from what he was working on. “Fine, lunch.

Barton pumped a hand in the air before going out saving their work. Tony shook his head. “There’s an easier way,” he said, stepping closer. “You’re tired into my systems here and its voice activated.”

Barton looked as though it was his birthday, but Barnes shook his head. “We’re good.”

“Can we test it later?” Barton asked, eyes pleading.

“Later,” Barnes agreed. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

“Fantastic, let’s go!” Tony flashed them a grin and pulled out his phone. “I’ll just get my driver to pull around.”

“How far away is this place?”

Tony shrugged and looked up to Barnes after he finished sending off his message. “A few blocks. Not far.”

“Then we can wal--”

Barton shoved at Barnes and quickly spoke over him. “We will be sure to thank your driver for taking us, then. It’s nice of him.”

“He’s used to it. Come on, follow me.”

Tony led the two silently to the elevator. Well, not completely silent -- he couldn’t stand that, so he hummed a bit under his breath. He ignored the looks Barnes and Barton were giving another, but figured it wasn’t his fight. The fact that he got Barnes out of the office was success enough and he would work on conversation later.

His humming was replaced with the dull elevator music. Barton smirked at him before he leaned closer to Barnes and hummed along with it; Tony could see the small quirk of Barnes' lips, but the man wasn’t letting his smile appear. He was stubborn and Tony enjoyed a challenge. Especially an attractive one.

No, he couldn’t let himself think that. Tony turned his head away, glad that they were almost to the garage so he could maybe not go down that thought path. No sleeping with the attractive people under his contracts.

The doors blissfully opened before Tony could go too far down the rabbit hole and he stepped out. Happy stood there, door already open to the back of the car, and Tony wanted to kiss him. He didn’t pay the man enough.

“Heya, Boss.”

“Thanks, Happy.” Tony stood to the side and motioned for Barnes and Barton to go first. “Lunch date with the new boys.”

Happy laughed. “Don’t make me jealous. Go on, inside.”

Tony winked and followed Happy into the back of the car. Inside, Barnes sat stiffly by the door while Barton looked around the inside of the car, pushing whatever buttons he could find. The car was a typical town car -- the back seat extended a bit in order to fit two bench seats facing another. Tony sat on the opposite side of the other two, watching as Barton poked at things.

“Enjoying yourself?” he asked as the car started to move.

“I’m a little jealous,” Barton admitted, finally leaning back. “This is a nice car.”

“It’s a bitch much,” Barnes mumbled.

Tony eyed the long-haired brunet for a moment. “This kind of car is expected when I’m supposed to take important people to delicious lunches.”

Barton nudged Barnes. “We’re important people. See?”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” Barnes rolled his eyes before looking out the window.

“It’s always going to go to my head.” Barton poked at another button and the sunroof started to open. “Oooh.”

Barnes grabbed onto Barton’s shirt. “You can’t stand up there. Don’t even try it.”

“Sam would let me.”

“Sam isn’t here.”

“Where is Wilson,” Tony asked, interrupting them. “He’s your PR guy, isn’t he?”

Barton sat back in his seat as Barnes closed the sunroof. “He only comes in when he needs to for now. Lucky bastard.”

“Clint--”

“Well, he  _ is _ . We should bring him in, make him do all the boring stuff.” Barton leaned forward. “Is this the place?”

“Yep.” Tony smiled at the bistro sign as the car stopped. “Have Wilson call Pepper. It doesn’t hurt to start early with how we’re going to announce the product.”

Barton flashed Tony a smile as Happy opened the back door. “Be glad to make him do some work,” he said before getting out.

Tony motioned for Barnes to go next. “After you,” he said, mind working on what to do about the extra work they seemed to have.

Barnes watched him, eyes moving over Tony’s body; he was sure the man didn’t even realize he did it. Then without a word, Barnes slid over and stepped out of the car. Something about the look made Tony almost feel naked and he wasn’t sure why. Shaking off the feeling, he followed him out and patted Happy on the shoulder in thanks.

Despite the busy hour, the hostess recognized him and gave a wide smile. “Usual table, Mister Stark? Three this time?”

Tony gave the perky girl an easy smile and a friendly kiss on the cheek. “You know what I like, Beth. Lead the way.”

She grinned and, soon enough, both Barnes and Barton were sitting with him at a table, single-page menu in front of them. Tony had eaten at the high-end bistro enough to know what he liked, but he gave the two other men enough time to make a decision without feeling rushed.

“There’s no prices,” Barnes said after a long time. “I--”

“Don’t worry about it, lunch is on me,” Tony insisted.

“You’ll have to excuse my partner here. He thinks you’re showing off your money.”

“ _ Clint _ . Shut  _ up _ .”

Tony grinned, picking up his wine glass. “It’s okay. Most people appreciate the amount of money I can throw at something.”

Barnes put the menu down and let out a breath. “Sorry, I’m used to earning everything I get.”

“I understand that.” Tony motioned a waiter over. “Then consider this an impromptu business meeting. Order first, talk later.”

Barnes eventually ordered the grilled chicken, while Barton went for the steak. Tony ordered his usual pasta and seafood before leaning his elbows on the table and trying to give Barnes an easy smile.

“How’s work?” he asked.

“Productive?”

“Fantastic!” Tony leaned back again. “Now that we have that part of the meeting over, we can talk about better subjects. Barton, did I hear you like classic rock?”

The conversation flowed better after that, even if Tony had to pull Barnes into it at some points. Once lunch was over, Tony knew that he definitely wanted to do it again, whether they ate out or just in the workshop. He tried to ignore the fact that only Barton looked excited about the idea.


	9. Chapter 9

If lunch at least once a week wasn’t enough to get under Bucky’s skin, it was the blatant lack of trust Stark constantly showed them. The visits were getting more and more bizarre and the excuses thinner than the one before. The final straw that had caused Bucky to snap was the distrust in the shape of four people that were now also in his lab.

“First,” he told an amused Sam and irritated Steve at their weekly dinner, “Stark’s driver walks in and he just _stares_ at us.”

“He was getting our lunch order,” Clint called out from the other room.

Bucky ignored him. “ _Stares_ at us! I think he’s actually a spy sent from Stark to see what we’re doing since he can’t make better excuses to interrupt us every day. I’ve seen him with his phone out sometimes, too. Probably texting Stark about everything we’re doing.”

“The guy is our boss,” Sam said, shaking his head. “He has a right to know.”

“Then he should _ask_ instead of being all dodgy about it.”

Clint came into the room, drying his hands on a towel. “Just wait until he gets started on the people who were sent to help us.”

Bucky threw his hands up, falling back in his seat. “And then there’s those three!”

Sam groaned as Clint laughed. “Barton, what have you _done_?”

“Shut up, I want to hear it all.” Steve reached forward, putting a hand on Bucky’s knee. “What happened?”

“So Monday, Stark comes down, tells us that he thinks we needed help, and leaves three _kids_ with us.”

“They’re interns and part of his elite scholarship program,” Clint adds before taking a seat. “They’re damn smart, just young.”

“They’re _spies_. So you got this girl from Africa named Shuri who _mocks_ me for how I’m doing something. As if she could do better, but I’ve seen her fumble with a simple coupling.”

“She was stripping faulty wire,” Clint said.

Bucky flipped him off. “Then there’s another girl named Riri? That’s what she told us to call her anyway. She likes to get completely in my business and ask to be shown this or that and then huffs when I tell her that I need to concentrate. I swear, I think he brought the kids down so we can babysit them.”

“Riri has a deaf friend and she’s curious,” Clint said, again adding the parts Bucky was ignoring.

“And finally?” Sam asked, lips quirked.

“Peter. I swear, the kid is a _spider_ because he’s always climbing on things!”

“He’s short.”

Bucky shot Clint a look. “And if he isn’t climbing, he’s dropping shit and thankfully catching it before it hits the ground. If I weren’t so annoyed, I’d be impressed.”

Steve squeezed Bucky’s knee. “Do they at least seem competent?”

“I don’t know, I guess?” Bucky shrugged. “I just don’t know why he thinks we _need_ them there. We’re perfectly fine on our own.”

“You poor thing...”

Bucky hesitated and _really_ looked at Steve. Then he saw it -- the sparkle in his best friend’s eye, the mirth hidden behind his too-tight lips as he attempted not to smile. Steve knew he had been caught and just laughed, leaning back against Sam as his boyfriend didn’t even try to hide his smirk.

“You’re all a bunch of assholes,” Bucky told them, standing. “I hate all of you and I’m never helping any of you again.”

“That requires that you helped in the first place!” Clint called before laughing with Sam.

Bucky went to the bathroom, trying to find an escape from his friends. He wasn’t really annoyed at them -- it was just venting because he was stressed -- but he still would have appreciated something more than mockery. After splashing his face with water, he sighed and looked at his reflection, wondering if he _was_ blowing this out of proportion. Maybe Stark was just being nice and he wasn’t reading the man correctly?

“Bucky?”

He startled at the knock more than his name being called through the door. “Yeah, one minute.”

The handle turned and Bucky cursed himself for not locking it -- of course it was Steve and he would always ignore him and come in. Especially if Steve suspected Bucky was upset. Since they were kids, Steve and Bucky seemed to always realize what the other was thinking. That had eased over the years, but they were still just as close.

“You okay?” Steve asked.

“I’m fine, Stevie. Just stressed.” Bucky wiped his face on a towel. “The whole thing with the job and making sure everything is perfect is just...”

“Mmhm.” Steve stepped closer and rubbed Bucky’s too-tense back. “Is he really that bad?”

Bucky scoffed and finally stood straight. “I don’t know. I just don’t like him. He just... I don’t. Clint thinks I _like_ him, but come on. How could I?”

“Okay.” Steve nudged him gently. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rile you up.”

There was no way Bucky could ever be upset at Steve for longer than a few minutes. He rolled his eyes and pulled Steve into a hug, content to stay there until they both relaxed into the hold. Steve’s face pressed against his chest and Bucky rested his chin on top of the dirty blond head.

“God I miss you,” Bucky said after what felt like hours. “I’ve been spending way too much time with Clint and I think it’s starting to drive me crazy.”

“Let’s have a Steve and Bucky day, then,” Steve decided, pulling back. He looked up with a grin. “We’ll go to a game, yell at the umpire about how he can’t see the strike zone.”

“Are you trying to seduce me, Rogers?”

“Is it working?” Steve winked, teasing, and fully pulled away. They fit together, but he could never think of Steve as anything more than a brother. They tried, once upon a time, but that barely lasted an hour and it just felt too awkward. “I think you’re overworking yourself, Buck, I really do. So this isn’t just a ‘let’s get you out for a distraction’ offer. This is more of a miniature vacation offer. I got that free hotel voucher and we can drive up to Boston, stay at that shitty hotel you like for the weekend.”

“Steve--”

“Don’t you ‘Steve’ me. Sam and I took a weekend not long ago, so it’s not like you’re taking me from him. I promise.”

Bucky knew that he wasn’t going to be able to say no -- not that he _wanted_ to. He could really use a vacation away from Stark and other work stress. But sometimes he just felt as if he took too much time away from Steve and Sam. When he wasn’t demanding Sam’s time with work stuff, then he was doing something with Steve. They both insisted it wasn’t as often as he thought it was, but he still felt it.

He knew he needed to ignore that small, anxious voice in his head. They would tell him if he was being too demanding. At least, Steve would. His friend may be small, but he was a firecracker and didn’t take any lip from anyone. It’s what drew Bucky to him in the first place, if he were honest.

“Friday and Saturday night? Or just Saturday night?” Bucky finally asked, shoulder slouching as he gave in. “But if we’re staying two nights, I’m buying dinner each time.”

Steve shook his head with a smile. “We’ll see about that.” He pulled out his phone. “And before you can claim it, I got the tickets to the game.”

Bucky gently punched at Steve’s arm. “Then I get all the meals. Boston isn’t cheap.”

“How about we just see who’s faster at getting their wallet open.”

“Punk,” Bucky said, reaching out to ruffle Steve’s hair. He knew the shorter man hated it, but Bucky couldn’t help it. He laughed at the glare Steve sent him. “You aren’t as scary as you think, you know.”

A sharp knock on the door made Bucky jump a bit and he frowned at it. “The hell is your problem, Clint?”

“Just your slow ass,” came through the door; it was Clint. “Come on, Wilson thinks he can kick my ass at poker and I gotta show him how wrong he is.”

“We’ll be right there,” Steve promised, rolling his eyes. “Please tell me you still have the poker chips lying around somewhere.”

“Even bought extra.” Bucky opened the door, glad to see Clint had already left to go back to the living room. “I’ll grab those, you get those assholes set up in the kitchen.”

Steve mock saluted before they separated in different directions. Bucky could hear their teasing from his bedroom and let himself relax. Tonight, there would be no more talking about work. It was just a night to hang out with friends and have a good time.


	10. Chapter 10

“ _ This shit isn’t loading correctly, _ ” Shadow said as Tony’s main screen continued spinning the “loading” sign. “ _ Are you in? Is it just me _ ?”

“Looks like it’s the server,” Tony said, disappointed. He and Shadow were a box off from getting matching uniforms for their Avengers and tonight was supposed to be the night. “Damn.”

“ _ Damn indeed. Just another shit thing for this week. _ ”

The ever-joyous subject of Shadow’s new boss. Tony felt a small smile come to his face as he leaned his elbows against his desk. It wasn’t that he enjoyed the fact that Shadow was constantly stressed, but he did like the passion he heard.

“ _ I’m pretty sure he’s just sending people in to spy on me now, _ ” Shadow said as the game officially kicked them off the server. “ _ I don’t need sitters _ .”

“You sound like you really need to kick something in the ass. We have that fighting game we’ve never tried.”

Shadow sighed. “ _ Yeah, fine. Let me install it. _ ”

“Tell me about this spy while you do that.”

“ _ Ugh _ ,” Shadow offered before blowing a raspberry into his mic.

“That bad?” Tony wanted nothing more than to reach through their computers and hug his friend, tell him that things would be okay. Maybe he should invent a teleporter. “Does he poke around?”

“ _ He’s always texting and looking shifty. Okay, it’s loaded. _ ”

Tony clicked into some free demo fighting game they found weeks ago. “These graphics are terrible. Why is it all pixelated?”

“ _ It’s free, Iron, what do you expect _ ?”

“Better quality for my invisible money.”

Shadow let out a bark of laughter at that and Tony couldn’t help but grin. Making Shadow laugh was always his goal; he loved hearing the sound. It was especially nice when his friend was in a bad mood -- they had gotten through college with Tony describing some of his more wild antics while Shadow laughed until he cried.

“ _ This is going to be  _ so _ bad, _ ” Shadow said, but soon enough, a macho-man type wrestler showed up on the screen. His costume was barely there and he wore a gold ‘banana-hammock.’ “ _ I’m going to name him Mousire Banana _ .”

“Ah, a Frenchman!” Tony laughed and picked his own fighter. Some tall woman with arms that dragged on the floor and perky breasts. She was dressed a bit better -- purple leggings with a blue bandana as a “shirt.” Her braided hair came down to her mid-back and had a ridiculously large, neon green bow holding it together.

“ _ Oh my god... _ ”

“Meet Slenderman’s more outgoing sister,” Tony told him as the next screen loaded. “Did you click on her?”

“ _ I was too scared to _ .”

“Apparently there’s a special move where her shirt comes off and she stuns any male opponents.”

“ _ Typical. This game is already terrible. _ ”

“Just remember, we’re here to take out your anger on your boss. Can’t do that if we keep complaining about the  _ free _ game.”

“ _ Yeah, yeah. _ ”

The fight screen faded in. Shadow’s character bounced on his feet in the typical fashion of Mortal Kombat, but Tony’s seemed to just sway where she was. “Tell me more about work,” Tony said as the countdown started.

Shadow grunted as his character attacked, thrusting out to try to use his stomach to hit Tony’s. “ _ So there’s this guy that’s constantly shifty everywhere. I really don’t know his job because it changes all the time apparently. _ ”

Tony swung his character around, her long arms and braid smacking Shadow’s. “Changes how?”

“ _Some days he’s a lunch runner, other days he’s ‘security’ -- whatever that means._ Oh, that’s just gross.” Shadow’s character had turned around, bent over, and shot what looked like a fart bomb. “ _God this game is stupid._ ”

Tony frowned, thinking back on Happy. He had told his friend to make himself available for whatever Barnes and Barton needed, but what if he was putting them in the same situation? Tomorrow, he vowed, he would talk with them about it.

“ _ Anyway, _ ” Shadow continued, “ _ that isn’t the worst part. So I’ve been working on this project for years and I know everything about it. My partner and I are a team, a duo, and we don’t  _ need _ help, but this guy apparently disagrees. But he doesn’t just send  _ one _ person down, no. He sends  _ three. _ And they’re practically kids! _ ”

“How young is ‘kids’ even?” Tony asked, ignoring when his ridiculous character got on her back to wildly fling her limbs around. “Under ten?”

“ _ Might as well. There’s two girls and they aren’t bad, they’re just obnoxious and one thinks she knows everything. Then there’s the boy and he looks like he should still be in middle school, let alone an elite scholarship internship. I still have his footprints on my chair because he’s too short to see over the damn counters. _ ”

Tony tried not to laugh, he really did, but a snort came out anyway. “I’m sorry, I’m just imagining a toddler in glasses trying to write up a report.”

“ _ He might as well be. _ ” Shadow sighed as he won the match, but only just barely. “ _ I don’t really think I want to play this again. _ ”

“I’m with you on that one. Let’s try the Avengers server again.”

“ _ I could kick some Skrull ass right now, _ ” Shadow agreed. “ _ Thanks for listening to me rant all the time, Iron _ .”

“You’re one of my best friends, Shadow, of course.” Tony hesitated, debating on whether to go further. He always wanted to meet Shadow, but wasn’t sure what Shadow would do once he figured out just  _ who _ he had an online relationship with. But Tony was tired of living with a ‘what if’ when it came to this. “Maybe one day we can actually meet up?”

Shadow was quiet for a long moment. Almost long enough for Tony to want to take his words back. “ _ Maybe _ ,” Shadow finally said. “ _ I need to get this deal settled first, but sure. _ ”

Something in Tony relaxed and he found himself grinning rather stupidly at his screen. “Of course. I’m a career man myself, so I wouldn’t begrudge you that.”

“ _ You might meet me by bailing me out of jail _ ,” Shadow teased. “ _ If these kids ask me one more stupid question, I might stab one of them. _ ”

Tony let out a fake gasp. “So harsh!”

“ _ Maybe I’ll only stab the boy... With the way our country is right now, if I stab the girls it’ll be twice as bad. Not only are they women, but I’m white and they’re black. _ ”

“Yeah, let’s not stoop to hate crime levels.” Tony shook his head. “And you’re not stabbing anyone, Christ how did we get on this subject?”

“ _ Yeah, sorry. I’m just at the end of my rope, I guess. Two of the kids were raised almost as orphans, but one of the girls? Her brother is some big-wig in Africa. Some tiny nation I’ve never heard of, but the tech there is apparently really nice. _ ”

Tony frowned, the situation sounding familiar. Shuri’s brother ruled the small nation of Wakanda and had asked if his sister could come to the states so they could learn from another. Of course Tony had accepted and she was the one who asked to check in on the CB Audiotech project. “Really?”

“ _ Yeah, so she’s got all this snark from going back and forth with him. The boy is obviously smart, but the two of them get along like a roof on fire. _ ”

Tony sat forward in his chair. That sounded a lot like Shuri and Peter, too much like them actually. Tony had came back to the states with Shuri a few months before and May, Peter’s aunt, agreed to house her while she was here. Peter had already been part of the program for a few weeks by then, and the two of them were almost attached at the hip ever since. That just left Riri...

“Next you’re going to tell me that the third one is the one that just wants to know the answer to everything and she won’t stop asking questions.”

Shadow groaned again. “ _ She’s a real-life Hermione Granger, but more Ravenclaw than Gryffindor. Sometimes she can just  _ stare _ at me and I know she’s asking a dozen questions in her head. _ ”

Several things clicked into place then. Shadow got a temporary position the same time Tony had Pepper hired Barnes and Barton. Shadow had two friends who needed hearing aids, and Barnes was  _ making _ hearing aids for Barton and another friend. A few of the things Shadow constantly complained about, when Tony really thought it over, were some things that he had done to Barnes.

_ Shit _ .

Shadow was Barnes. Shadow was  _ Bucky _ . He had hired his best friend and his best friend  _ absolutely hated him _ . Tony gripped his mouse tightly, whatever Shadow was now saying was nothing but a muffle against the roar in his own head. He had unknowingly made his best friend’s life hell, all because he wanted to impress him. The other him.  _ They were the same _ .

Tony closed their chat and logged off his computer before he realized exactly what he was doing. He just knew he needed to get away. He had to think, and he couldn’t do that with Shadow talking to him.

_ How did he never notice the voice? _

“Fuck,” Tony said to himself, then quickly fled his office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH!!!!!!


	11. Chapter 11

Bucky hadn’t been able to sleep for the past few nights and be blamed it completely on Iron. His friend had suddenly logged off in the middle of Bucky’s venting about his boss and he had yet to check in -- that had been four days ago. Usually if one of them lost power, they found ways to get word out (Bucky had once snuck out of his mom’s place so he could beg a neighbor to use their smartphone). Worried, he had checked the weather reports to see if there were any strange occurrences that might cause Iron to be silent.

Nothing, which led Bucky to believe that it was  _ his _ fault. Maybe he complained too much? Or he didn’t return the favor? Maybe Iron was only using him until something better came around?

He couldn’t think of that today, though. He and Clint had to do their final presentation for a small group of the Stark Industries board, including Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. He couldn’t afford to have his mind elsewhere.

“Breath,” Clint said next to him. “It’s not like they don’t already know everything we’ve been doing.”

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky shifted on his feet and smoothed out his shirt despite there being no wrinkles. “I’m just tired.”

“No answer, then?”

Bucky shook his head, stepping off the elevator once it stopped on the meeting floor. Clint was the first person Bucky went to when Iron didn’t contact him or answer messages. Not that he could be any help, but Bucky needed someone to talk to about it and Clint understood that.

“It’s probably something important,” Clint said, handing Bucky a folder. “Here, distract yourself by talking.”

“You just don’t want to do it,” Bucky accused, though he didn’t try to hand their presentation folder back. “Ready for this?”

“Have been since we got the gig here.” Clint grinned and held the door for him. “After you, boss.”

Bucky held back the urge to roll his eyes and stepped into the office. He smiled at the people around the conference table, not recognizing any of them (besides Pepper and Stark). “Hello, I hope we didn’t hold you up.”

“Not at all,” Pepper assured them. “How have you two been doing?”

“Leaps and bounds since we’ve been able to work with the equipment here.” Bucky took a seat while Clint passed around folders to everyone there. “I can’t thank you enough for giving us this opportunity.”

“Our pleasure,” she said before opening her folder. “Let’s get this started, shall we?”

“Right, okay.” Bucky smiled at the room before looking back down at the folder. “As you can see on our first page, we’ve been working on this for quite some time. Our first few models were either too uncomfortable or not strong enough. However, thanks to your generosity, I believe we’ve made something that can help many people.”

And so the meeting went, with Bucky and Clint both taking turns detailing what they’ve done. Most of the board looked intrigued, but all Bucky could focus on was Stark’s silent stare. Never once did the man look to Clint, just at Bucky; it was starting to get on his nerves. The man asked no questions, he didn’t even open his folder, and Bucky could tell that it was starting to make Clint nervous.

Not even half an hour into the meeting, Stark finally leaned forward and clasped his hands over the folder, letting Clint’s sentence trail off into silence. He finally gave them a smile before standing. “I like what I heard,” he said.

Pepper nodded as if she knew this was going to happen. “You two have made great progress here.”

“Thank you,” Clint said softly.

“Ms. Potts, please make sure they have everything they need to become permanent employees here. Bigger workspace if they need, different equipment... whatever. Make sure they get the full treatment.”

“It was already on the agenda. I  _ do _ know how to do my job,” she teased.

Tony at least had the sense to blush under her comment. “I know, but sometimes I like to pretend I’m still in charge.”

Bucky cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, but we were told it would be a much longer presentation since it does involve more of your company’s resources...”

Tony waved him into silence. “I want you to work here, so it’s settled.” He squeezed Pepper’s shoulder gently before going to the door.

The room while silent as Stark left, leaving half the others in the room shaking their heads. Bucky assumed these meetings probably happened like this all the time, but something about it still bothered him. He frowned down at their presentation folder before pushing his chair back.

“If you’ll excuse me...”

“Bucky, wait--”

Bucky ignored Clint as he got up to follow Stark out of the room. He appreciated the extension of their contract, but he wasn’t going to sign it if things kept on as they were. He pushed open the door that led into the hallway, glancing around before he spotted Stark.

“Mister Stark!” Not wanting to miss him, Bucky jogged closer as Stark turned to face him. “Can we talk?”

The billionaire looked like he wanted to do anything  _ but _ talk to Bucky, even if he did wave him toward the elevator. “My office okay?”

“Sure, of course.” Bucky resisted the urge to slouch. “I just wanted to talk some more about things before Clint and I got on a more permanent basis.”

Stark just nodded and stepped into the elevator once it arrived. “I’m surprised you wanted to talk. You don’t seem to like me much.”

Bucky could feel his face heat up and he did slouch then. “I’m protective over my projects.”

“Good way to be.” Tony rubbed at his chin before letting out a breath. “Which makes my next suggestion probably terrible.”

“What suggestion is that?”

The elevator opened and Tony led the way down the hall. “Do you know of Helen and Toni?”

“The names don’t sound familiar, sorry...”

“It’s okay.” Tony waved to a man behind a desk before opening the door to his office and motioning Bucky inside. “Helen Cho leads the department here that deals in neural health. She typically sticks to machines, while Toni Ho helps her on the patient end of it.”

Bucky hesitated before taking a seat on one side of the large desk. “You want to try and directly implant my device.”

“No, but that isn’t a bad idea.” Tony sat in his own chair, giving Bucky a smile. “Is that something you’d be willing to work toward with them?”

All he ever wanted was for Stark to  _ ask _ him before assigning people or looking through his things. But right now, on principle, Bucky didn’t want to agree to anything. If Stark wanted the things implanted, Bucky could find a way somehow. He’d have to do a lot of research, but that’s what being here was for.

He straightened his shoulders. “I’m starting to think you don’t trust in my abilities, Mister Stark. I agree that some kind of permanent thing would be nice, but maybe you should ask if I can do it before you try to bring other people in.”

“That has nothing to do with why I suggested them,” Tony insisted, his body visibly tensing. “I know you have the ability to do this.”

Bucky knew he should back off, should let the matter drop, but... “Then why suggest them?”

“Because it’s my job here to make sure all of the products produced are used to the best of their ability.”

“It’s a hearing aid...”

“You’re correct,” Tony agreed, “but it can also be  _ more _ . Before you gave me the implant idea, I was hoping to bring the two scientists on to mostly run a safety check. I trust your abilities, but if we’re going to move forward with the intention of mass producing these for those that need it, I need to make sure it’s safe.”

Bucky didn’t want to admit that maybe he hadn’t thought about that. “I wouldn’t make something that hurt people.”

“I know, I--”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky interrupted. “Sorry, I’ve just had people my whole life try to tell me what I needed. Apparently, it’s a touchy subject for me.” Not that Tony would know, Bucky was sure. There were teachers that would push him toward certain schools, his parents that insisted he take certain tests.

Tony nodded and motioned toward the door. “You’re forgiven, but I have a lot of work to get done...”

“Right, yeah.” Bucky stood quickly. “Sorry for taking up your time.”

“Barnes?” Bucky stopped by the door at Tony’s voice. “I’m happy you’re passionate about your project and I’ll work on communicating better with you.”

Bucky didn’t answer, but he did at least give Tony a small smile as he left. At least the meeting hadn’t gone too horrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I lied. You get THREE chapters today and tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

Tony debated for hours that weekend before taking a deep breath and logging into the server he and Shadow shared. He needed to get used to that -- to calling them different names so he didn’t screw it up while at work. Or, the cowardly part of his mind supplied, he could just avoid him at work. Completely.

Tony wasn’t sure he could _ever_ avoid his best friend. Despite the situation that he found himself in, he couldn’t stay away from a decade of friendship just because he was a screwup and didn’t realize just who he had hired.

As soon as he logged on, Shadow’s name was shown as _available_. He had expected to just leave a message and move on, but this was unexpected. It was well after the time Shadow typically logged off -- maybe he just left his computer on. That had to be it.

A _ping_ sounded over his speakers as a message came in, sure enough from Shadow. Though what did he really expect? Last time they talked, Tony had left without a word, so of course he would have a message. There were a few in the window -- Shadow asking what happened and if he was okay. Shadow saying he went to bed followed by a message from the next morning, assuming maybe the power went out.

Then there was the new message -- innocently staring at him in the face. _Haven’t seen you in a while. You good?_

Yes, no. Not really. Tony took a deep breath and let it out before putting his fingers to the keys. He could do this.

 

 **Iron_knight:** Been better, but doing okay.

 **Man_of_shadows:** Not your power, then. :/

 **Man_of_shadows:** I’m sorry if I upset you.

 

That hurt more than Tony wanted to admit. There was no way Shadow could hurt him, not at all. Well, maybe if he decided to stop all communication if he ever found out just who Tony was, but Tony wasn’t going to allow that. He would pull back from CB Audiotech, let them run their projects.

Still, Iron wasn’t supposed to know about any of that.

 

 **Iron_knight:** Upset me how?

 **Man_of_shadows:** Work bitching. That’s all I seem to do and I’m sure you’re tired of it.

 **Iron_knight:** Oh that. No, you’re fine. :)

 **Man_of_shadows:** Am I really?

 

Tony let out a breath, not sure how to talk anymore, it seemed. His friend needed reassurance, but Tony didn’t want to _lie_ to him any more than he already was. He wished Pepper was here, coaching him on exactly what to say.

Hell, he _knew_ what she would say -- _tell him the truth, coward_. Tony shook that thought from his head.

 

 **Iron_knight:** Why wouldn’t you be?

 **Man_of_shadows:** A feeling, I guess.

 **Man_of_shadows:** Sorry, it’s been a long fucking week and I guess I missed talking to you. I took advantage of the situation.

 **Iron_knight:** I hear you on that long week, but you didn’t do anything wrong, Shadow.

 

He owed Shadow big for putting him through this. Maybe Tony could gift him a loot box or ten from the _Avengers_ game? Would Shadow even accept that without some kind of explanation?

 

 **Man_of_shadows:** Guess there’s just something messed up with my head.

 

Maybe if Tony spun it to make himself the guilty party, as he should have done from the start. He focused on his guilt and leaned over his keyboard, ready to put it all on himself.

 

 **Iron_knight:** I had something happen and it freaked me out. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.

 **Iron_knight:** That was the last thing I wanted to do.

 **Iron_knight:** You’re my best friend, Shadow. Always.

 

He watched the bottom of the chat, waiting to see the notice that Shadow was typing. When nothing came after a minute or two, Tony rubbed at his eyes and sent up a prayer to whoever happened to be listening that he didn’t screw this up any more than it was already.

 

 **Iron_knight:** When was the last time you really slept?

 **Man_of_shadows:** I don’t know, Monday?

 **Iron_knight:** _sigh_ Shadow.

 **Man_of_shadows:** All right, all right. I’ll take something to knock me out.

 **Iron_knight:** Promise?

 **Man_of_shadows:** Promise.

 **Iron_knight:** Good. :)

 **Man_of_shadows:** Yeah, yeah. I know tonight is usually game night, but I think I should sign off.

 

Tony realized then just how much it was making him nervous to be in this conversation. He hadn’t even noticed that it was their usual night, but if he had to actually _hear_ Shadow’s voice again, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold onto the secret much longer. _Damn_ him.

 

 **Iron_knight:** You take care of you. Let me know a good night and we’ll just go kick some ass then.

 **Man_of_shadows:** Okay. Thanks, Iron.

 **Iron_knight:** NP Shadow. Get some rest.

**Man_of_shadows signed off.**

 

Tony stared at the last message for a long time before signing off himself. He would sign in again tomorrow, send Shadow another message and hopefully things would go back to normal. They would grab more boxes from _Avengers_ while bemoaning the fact that their temporary teammates were horrible. Or they’d take a trip through the forest finding bandits and protecting the kingdom. Or try a new, stupid game they found.

Anything to go back to normal.

He groaned, leaning back in his chair. The entire weekend lay ahead of him, taunting his nerves. Though he typically stayed out of the office on Saturdays, maybe he could make an exception. There were a few departments who would be overjoyed to come in on Monday and see several of their budgetary requests approved; Pepper was _always_ getting on him about his backlog of those.

Or maybe he could just tinker with a few things in the R&D floor. The boys there had a pile of “crap” as they called it -- he could play around with some of their trash and turn it into his own treasure. Last time he did that, he came up with the toaster that still sat in Pepper’s apartment. She loved it enough to mass produce it, but she always kept the original.

Tony just needed something to keep his mind off of the meeting on Monday. He wanted desperately to know what CB Audiotech would say to a permanent offer. If they accepted, he would definitely need to back off and let Shadow -- let Bucky -- do his thing. If they didn’t accept, then he didn’t have to worry about anything.

Despite wanting to just sleep through his feelings, Tony knew that he wasn’t going to be able to relax enough to sleep for a while. Giving up, he moved to his living room couch and flopped down onto the plush cushions. A few clicks of the remote later and he had some action-type marathon playing; it would at least help for a while.


	13. Chapter 13

Bucky sat outside of Tony Stark’s office, leg bouncing as the man’s silent secretary continued typing away. The early-morning meeting request wasn’t expected, so Bucky had to sit and wait for the billionaire to come in. At first, he said he didn’t mind, but after twenty minutes of being alone with his thoughts, he was having second thoughts. Was Monday too soon? Would Stark be upset to see him?

He wished he could talk to Iron, but his friend had been acting weird lately. Bucky blamed himself, even if Iron denied it. The last time they talked had been Friday when Iron insisted that it was something besides Bucky. Should he just sit back and accept that explanation, move on like nothing happened? Maybe offer to help his friend through whatever was wrong? He just had to stop complaining about work all the time. The occasional snark about Clint, sure, but nothing about the rest of it. 

If they were going to accept this job, Bucky would have to learn to get along with Stark anyway. That’s why he was here, alone. Clint offered to join and Sam all but insisted that he should be here, but Bucky left before either one of them knew what he was doing. He was sure his phone had plenty of messages from them both, too.

“Barnes?”

Bucky looked up, wondering how he missed the obnoxious sound of his boss arriving. Stark stared at him with a guarded expression, a coffee in one hand and his sunglasses in the other. Despite everything, Bucky still found himself appreciating the neat press of his suit and how it hugged his figure. 

He quickly stood before his thoughts could go elsewhere. “Sorry, I know it’s early...”

“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it. Thought you guys would come in later.” Stark motioned toward his office. “Let’s go inside.”

“Thank you.” Bucky let him lead the way. “I wanted to talk about the contract.”

The minimalist office look Stark had obviously been going for was only ruined by the scattered piles of paperwork on the corner of his desk and what looked like unfinished projects propped up against the walls. One looked like a segway that had a trailer and Bucky wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that was supposed to be useful for. Bringing groceries back, maybe? It was definitely the office of a tinkerer, though, and not a businessman. It was the kind of office Bucky could see himself having one day.

“You have a productive weekend, then?” he asked, pulling Bucky out of his musings. Stark sat behind his desk, putting his phone off to the side on top of a teetering pile of folders.

“You could say that.” Bucky sat, perched on the edge of the chair. “Clint helped.”

The smile on the man’s face calmed Bucky a bit. “I think your partner enjoys the tower a bit too much. I keep finding him on floors he shouldn’t be.”

“He does that.” There was no excuse for it -- Clint was going to do whatever he wanted. Bucky was just glad Stark found the situation humorous instead of anything else. “I tried to put a tracker on him once...”

Stark laughed again and leaned forward, resting his arms off the desk. “Maybe put them in his hearing aids,” he said, then hesitated. “I’m sorry, that was--”

“A good idea.”

Stark arched an eyebrow. “Is it?”

“You aren’t the only one who needs to work on communication. I’m... willing to hear more ideas over the next year.”

“Just a year?”

Bucky offered a small smile. “I’ve given you enough trouble. I figure the next step is a yearly contract to make sure we’re both on the same page.”

Stark rubbed at his goatee before nodding. “Smart, I’m sure Pepper suggested that at some point. You’re accepting, then?”

“If you’ll have Clint, Sam, and I, yes. I’d be a fool to refuse your offer.”

Stark waved a hand and turned to his computer, tapping on his keyboard to wake it up. “I don’t think you’re a fool. Hard-headed, sure, but who isn’t?”

“We both are, I guess.”

Stark winked at him. “Damn right.”

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh, relaxing just slightly. There were a lot of things that they would need to get through, but he was confident now that Stark wasn’t simply out to make his life hell. The man was curious, just unsure how to communicate with those under him. Maybe that’s why he had Ms. Potts deal with all the new people. Not only was she the CEO, but whenever she came by, it was always an easy conversation.

The least Bucky could do was reach a hand out and meet the genius halfway. “Considering we’re both more than a little hard-headed about our respective areas, should we maybe talk a bit about boundaries?”

Stark’s eyes widened for a moment before he cleared his throat and turned to look at his computer. “Pepper’s always saying I need those, so sure. Lay ‘em on me, Barnes.”

“Should I be worried that you aren’t good with them?” Bucky couldn’t help but notice the blush creeping over Stark’s cheeks. “Should we set safe words?” he asked before he could catch himself.

If anything, the blush deepened. Bucky felt a bit bad -- flirting with the boss wasn’t something he  _ should _ be doing. Stark hadn’t looked uncomfortable about it, but that didn’t mean Bucky wouldn’t be hit with some kind of sexual harassment warning later. He cleared his throat and decided to press on, ignoring his slip.

“Okay, how about if you do come into Clint and I’s work area, you just let us work. Unless we’re about to do something that will explode or harm someone, I mean.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “To learn, you need to make mistakes, right?”

Stark shifted in his chair. “I was thinking--”

“I know how hard that is for you,” Bucky interrupted. “Clint and I are honored to be working for you because of your reputation. You like to fix things and, well, that’s a business guy after our own hearts, you know?”

“I didn’t think you guys wanted me to stop by again, honestly.” The man ran a hand down his tie, smoothing it over. “I get it, too. I’ve put my nose further into what you’re doing than anyone else here under contract.”

“More than we’re used to,” Bucky agreed, “but how else are you going to make sure we’re doing our job and not goofing off?”

Stark smiled and shook his head. “I’ve got cameras for that.”

“And others down there.”

The smile disappeared. “The interns... Right, sorry. I can--”

“I don’t mind the extra help,” Bucky said, stopping him. “The ones you suggested and brought in, I mean. If you have plans to add anyone else, I’d like to talk about it before I agree if that’s okay.”

Stark’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “I can work with that. Any other requests?”

Bucky wanted to say no, but something had him channeling his inner Clint and he grinned. “Espresso machine?” When the only answer was a small quirk of Stark’s lips, Bucky smirked and leaned back. “Long days mean caffeine is needed. Maybe one of those machines that also can foam milk? Sometimes I like to get creative.”

“You’re going to have a lot of random people walking in to steal some.”

“Then Clint can make friends.”

Stark laughed then and shook his head. “Christ, Shadow, who knew you were so anti-social.”

Bucky hesitated at the name and his eyes widened. “...What?”

“Hm? What...oh.” Stark’s eyes widened. “...Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, you guys have to wait until TOMORROW to find out what happens next!


	14. Chapter 14

Tony turned his chair away from Bucky as fast as he could, trying to panic without it showing too much. Okay, and maybe he  _ also _ didn’t want to see the disappointment set in on his friend’s face when he realized just  _ who _ Tony was. Hell, if their positions were switched, Tony  _ knew _ that he would be livid and would wonder if Bucky knew all along.

Pepper always told him that he was going to stick his foot in his mouth one day. His smooth-talk could only get so far when it was people he really didn’t give a shit about, or people that he knew wouldn’t be in his life longer than a conversation. But Bucky was  _ different _ and he had gone and screwed that up.

“Mister Stark?” Bucky’s voice came as barely a whisper and Tony felt his shoulders tense. “I...  _ Iron _ ?”

The gig was officially up. Tony let his shoulders slump as he turned the chair back to face Bucky. “Hi...”

Bucky didn’t look angry, but he didn’t look happy either. Confusion was definitely present, and maybe a bit of hope? But he wasn’t mad and, for now, Tony counted it as a win. Bucky looked down at his hands, rubbing his thumb gently over his fingers before letting out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. Yeah, definitely a win.

“Holy shit.”

“I just found out,” Tony said quickly, trying to reassure him.. “Last time we played online, you started talking about Peter, Shuri, and Riri.” He leaned forward, one hand reaching out to Bucky. “I swear, I had no idea until then just who you were.”

“I told you everything,” Bucky said, hurt edging into his voice. “I told you how much I hated my boss and what he was doing to me.”

“I know--”

“You  _ kept _ doing all those things I hated,” Bucky accused, ignoring Tony’s interjection. “Why would you do that? Why would you keep doing it?”

“Because I didn’t see it that way. You described some uncaring asshole, and I was just being myself.” Tony hesitated, then pulled his hand back. “Which, considering I didn’t even realize you were complaining about me, does make me an asshole.”

There was no other way around that. Tony has listened to Shadow complain since the first time he stepped foot in their lab, but he never once thought that he could be anything like what was said. Ruined notes and hovering, sending ‘spies’ and flashing money around. He did  _ all _ of that under a slim excuse of “helping.”

On top of his annoying behaviors, he didn’t think about how Clint and Bucky were taking it. He wasn’t helping at all. He  _ was  _ an asshole.

“I owe you so many apologies,” he said, voice soft in the silent room. “As both Tony Stark, your boss, and Iron, your friend.”

Bucky still hadn’t looked at him. He shrugged a shoulder, a strand of hair falling across his face as he did so. Tony wanted nothing more than to reach out and tuck it behind Bucky’s ear. Kiss his cheek. Confess a lot more than his faults.

Now was not the time to rejoice in the fact that the two men he had a crush on were the same person. Tony figured that should have made his life easier, not harder, since it meant he didn’t  _ need _ to choose. Tony forced himself to look away from the curve of Bucky’s neck (where he wanted to put his lips) and stared down at his desk instead.

“As your boss,” he finally said, “I am sincerely sorry for stepping on your toes. I was over-excited and didn’t even try to communicate that with you, Barton, or Wilson. I definitely hope to prove myself over the next year. If you’ll still take the contract.”

Bucky looked up then, eyes wide. “That’s still on the table?”

Tony nodded. “Was never off the table. Honestly, all I ever wanted was to see this project succeed. Not just to impress my best friend, but to expand and better a market that’s been ignored. Ever since you... Shadow mentioned that he had close friends who were having trouble with their hearing aids, I wanted to fix it.”

“Why?”

Tony had a million answers that had nothing to do with Bucky, but he doubted any of those would actually do much. So instead, he settled on, “I’m a mechanic in the end. Fixing things is what I do.”

Bucky gave him a look that told Tony he had stuck his foot in his mouth. He had seen a similar enough look on Pepper’s face sometimes to recognize it. “Steve and Clint don’t need to be  _ fixed _ . They aren’t machines with replaceable parts.”

Tony held up his hands. “Sorry, not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“I saw a problem,” Tony said, resting his hands on the desk. “Your friends and the battery issues. Ill-fitting pieces. I didn’t realize you were already starting to get them something better, so I tried to find a way to help.” He hesitated, then tried a small smile. “I actually hoped to offer your friends the prototypes when they were completed.”

The silence between them almost became uncomfortable before Bucky laughed, wrapping his arms around his stomach before he leaned over in his chair. Tony had heard this laugh enough over his headphones to know that Bucky was genuinely amused, so he relaxed back into his own chair.

“I know,” he said, a smile on his face. “It sounds  _ really _ dumb now to want to gift a hearing aid to one of the men who actually helped make it.”

“You  _ have _ to give it to Clint,” Bucky insisted once he got his breath back. “Oh please, just hand it to him with a straight face and watch him puzzle it out.”

“For you, Shadow, I would do anything.”

Bucky looked at Tony through his lashes, and Tony had to hold back the urge to get up and kiss him. He had to get rid of the idea that something, anything, could have come from finally meeting his best friend. It made him think of far too many inappropriate things.

“This is all kind of sudden for me,” Bucky admitted, voice quiet. “I... Can I think about what all this means? Before I sign anything with the company?”

Tony wanted to tell him no, to demand that Bucky stay here since he previously already agreed on a contract, but he forced an easy smile. “Of course. Why not take the week and come find me Friday?”

“I can do that.” Bucky stood. “So I’ll... Okay.”

Tony stood as well. “Bucky?” He waited until the other man’s eyes met his own. “If it’s easier, we can just go back to gaming. I’d rather not lose you completely.”

Bucky nodded but didn’t say anything else as he left the office. Tony slumped back down into his chair and ran a hand over his face, hoping he didn’t just screw up a decade of friendship. Those late nights with Bucky, laughing over Discord when they took down enemies, had been the only thing that helped Tony get through his first year at SI. To him, the games were just simple enough to let his mind shut down, but entertaining enough that he didn’t get bored. Adding Bucky’s snark into the mix had just been a bonus.

The fact that they were both on the East coast meant nothing. Back when they had a steady team, one was with them up North while the other three down South. It had just been easier finding people who were running the same schedule.

Eventually, the others on the team drifted away while Tony and Bucky grew closer. Tony couldn't even pinpoint when it had gone from the six of them to just the two of them -- years ago, obviously. Bucky had always been a constant.

Losing him over this was something Tony would never accept. He turned back to his computer and quickly sent off a message to Pepper. CB Audiotech would be in her hands from now on. There was no point in lying to her, so he didn’t hide the revelation that Shadow and Bucky were one and the same, but he did ask that she not say anything.

He was a mechanic. He could fix this.


	15. Chapter 15

Clint let out a breath before settling next to Bucky on the lab floor. The room was quiet save for the ticking of a clock on some wall -- Bucky never bothered to look for it, so he wasn’t exactly sure where it was. He shifted as Clint got more comfortable until his friend’s head was resting on his stomach. Bucky couldn’t help but drop a hand onto Clint’s hair, running through the strands.

“There a reason we’re on the floor?” Clint asked after a long minute of silence.

“It’s comfortable.”

Clint snorted but didn’t call Bucky out on his bullshit just yet. “Yeah, you’re a great pillow. Honestly, I could sleep here all day.”

Bucky smiled a little. “It’s been a weird day.”

“I think you need to be more specific than that, pal. You left before Sam or myself could stop you, which in itself is weird. Then when we get here, Darcy said you’ve already been to see Stark and then you ran in here to hide out.” Clint tilted his head back so he could focus his gaze on Bucky. “How weird are we talking?”

“Iron is Tony Stark.”

The ticking clock was the only sound for a long, anxious moment before Clint sat up and turned to look at Bucky. “I’m sorry, but did you just say...”

“Yep.”

“Your Iron.”

Bucky nodded.

“Tony Stark.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “I know you heard me, so why should I repeat myself?”

“Because I think you’re smoking something. That or you reprogrammed my piece to hear bullshit when you tell me stuff.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I just found out about it when I went to his office this morning, so how could I have had time to reprogram anything?”

“Okay,” Clint said, sitting cross-legged next to him. “Okay, what if he’s lying? And he hacked into our computers to find out something about us to make us stay on?”

“Paranoid much?”

“No, but I’m just trying to figure out how this happened.”

Bucky shrugged, feeling that’s all he was really capable of doing at the moment. “It just slipped out. Right in the middle of the meeting.”

“How does that just slip out?”

_ For you, Shadow, I would do anything. _ “Just did, I guess. I don’t know.” He stood, moving to one of the consoles. “I can’t... I just... Clint, it’s  _ Iron _ . It’s Tony Stark. Our  _ boss _ . What the hell am I supposed to do with that kind of information?”

“All right, let’s relax.” Clint stood next to him. “Breathe with me.”

“Clint--”

“Just do it, James.”

Bucky let out a breath before closing his eyes and focusing on Clint’s steady breath. The gentle and steady  _ in _ and _ out _ helped him relax enough to where he could get his mind to think about something other than the panic. Once Clint’s hand rested on his back, he finally let himself relax. Clint moved a hand up to squeeze the back of his neck gently and Bucky flashed him a small, thankful smile.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah, better.” Bucky stepped back until he could sit down in a chair, slouching in it as best he could. “Sorry.”

“The only reason I’m not freaking out is because one of us has to be calm.” Clint pulled a chair over and sat down. “I’ll call Sam and freak out at him later while you freak out at Steve. Sound fair?”

“And then they can freak out at each other?”

“See, you got it.”

Bucky shook his head, but he also could help the smile on his face. Trust Clint to get his head on straight even if he wasn’t sure of the entire situation. “Thanks, Clint.”

“Any time. Now, want to talk it out? What happened?”

“Right.” Bucky sat up straighter. “You know I complain about everything to Iron, right? You, Steve, school--”

“That one asshole you dated in college.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yes, including that. And the job here. With all the stuff that I hated about Stark.”

“Because you had a crush on him and didn’t want to admit it because you  _ also _ had a crush on Iron.”

Sometimes, Bucky really hated how much Clint could read him. He decided to ignore his friend’s input and just continue. “He recognized the descriptions I gave of the interns.”

Clint let out a low whistle. “You sure he didn’t know from the beginning?”

“He says he didn’t and I believe him. Iron didn’t start acting weird until I mentioned them anyway. He also knew that two of my friends were hard of hearing, so he saw our project and went for it.”

“Can I ask why you two idiots never bothered to figure out you were in the same city? I mean, we  _ have _ been here for a few years now. Thought you two kept up with that stuff.”

It was a valid question that Bucky didn’t have an answer to. He always  _ wanted _ to know where Iron was from because the thought of seeing him face-to-face put the stupidest smile on his face. Being able to meet with him and potentially get together more than once? That was a dream he never thought would be possible.

Bucky hadn’t wanted to chance them being too far away.

“He never offered,” he finally said, “so neither did I. It didn’t seem important. I mean, he did offer recently, but it wasn’t anything big. Just a ‘maybe we should’ thing.”

“Not that it matters anymore.”

“Exactly,” Bucky agreed. “He said he’d give us until Friday to figure out if we’ll stay here.”

“I like extensions.” Clint reached over, resting a hand over Bucky’s fidgeting ones. “What do you want to do, Buck?”

“This isn’t just my decision. This is  _ our _ work.”

“Yeah, but we can see about getting another contract somewhere else. Use your boyfriend’s guilt if we need to.”

Bucky scowled at him. “He’s  _ not _ my--”

“But he could be if you wanted it.” Clint smiled softly. “Or not if you don’t. Either way, that isn’t the point here and I’m sorry.”

Bucky looked around their lab at all the equipment strewn about. It was honestly the perfect set up for them and definitely had room for them and the three interns easily. He could imagine Peter Parker jumping between the tables making sure everyone had the parts they needed, while Riri Williams and Shuri each tried to out-do another. Clint would be happily testing whatever they came up with after Bucky made sure the wiring was done correctly.

He could also see Tony coming down at lunch, pressing a kiss to his cheek before dragging him off under the excuse of a private meeting. The others would know what they were going off to do and Clint would make a loud comment about cleaning up after. One of the interns would probably blush -- maybe Peter? -- while the other two either joined in with Clint or said nothing. Bucky didn’t know them well enough.

Part of him wanted to get to know them more. He knew this was their best opportunity with the equipment and they could also grow here. Expand from just hearing aids. That just left figuring out what to do about Tony. After he apologized, of course.

“We should stay,” he said as he turned back to Clint. “It doesn’t make sense that we leave SI when we have everything already set up here. Plus, what better place are we going to find?”

“If you’re sure... What do you plan to do about Stark, then?”

Bucky shrugged. “I want to be mad at him, but I just...”

“Can’t? More mad at yourself?”

“Yeah.” He couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Part of me is just too damn happy that I finally got to meet Iron, you know? I’ve wanted to for  _ years _ .”

“Let me ask you this, then.” Clint shifted closer, making sure Bucky was looking at him. “What’s being mad going to do? How is that going to help anything?”

Bucky knew it wasn’t going to help anything; it would just make things more awkward between them. He huffed out a breath. “You’re still an asshole,” he said softly. “You just don’t want to lose some bet you made with Sam.”

“Well, that’s beside the point. I was always going to win the bet with Sam.”

Bucky nudged him. “I knew it.”

Clint laughed and pushed his chair away. “You love me. Now go kiss and make up with your boyfriend, you dork.”

Bucky didn’t have to be told twice. He blew a raspberry at Clint before spinning in his chair and going for the door. He needed his player two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small warning -- the next chapter is an epilogue and it's about half the length of this. It'll be posted in roughly an hour. :)


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the end of the fic! Thank you to everyone who commented and gave kudos. :)
> 
> MASSIVE love to my artist for the RBB and the [absolutely wonderful art that you can see here.](https://massivespacewren.tumblr.com/post/185113852353/wohoo-its-time-for-secret-identities-and-online) I would have never gotten this done without the support -- not to mention the plot bunny from the art!
> 
> We've embedded the art into Chapter 1 as well. :) Make sure to give MassiveSpaceWren some love too!!!

The Winter Soldier ran to the edge of the building, Skrulls hot on his tail. “Need a ride! I need a ride!” He secured his weapon and glanced to the skies, trying to find Iron Man. “Iron!”

“ _Incoming_ ,” the familiar voice of Iron Man came over the coms. “ _I got you_.”

“You better.” The Soldier took the last two running steps before leaping off the edge of the building, arms out.

Before he could start to fall, his metal hand caught the gauntlet of Iron Man, gripping tight so he wouldn’t fall. He laughed, soaring through the skies. The view was always wonderful from up here; no wonder Iron Man liked to fly. The loot box was close, he could see that on their radar, and Iron Man was bringing them toward it.

“Babe, drop me around there. I’ll get in from the side.”

Iron Man laughed, doing as he was asked. “ _If I could kiss you right now, I would._ ”

“You’re making me blush.” The Soldier let go, dropping exactly where he planned. “Cover me from the top?”

“ _Don’t I always_?”

“Unless I pin you down, sure.” There were no Skrulls at the moment, but the Soldier knew that it was only a matter of time. Their spawn point was always close to the box and even though it was in some ridiculous tower this round, it would only be a matter of time before they showed up. “Why didn’t we do the flying drop before?”

“ _New feature. Downloaded it last night._ ”

“Before or after I was there?”

Iron laughed, the sound sending shivers down the Soldier’s spine. “ _As if I was able to do anything coherent after you were there._ Spawned at the bottom. They’re crawling up to you.”

The Soldier dropped another level, the box in sight. “I’m almost there. Can you take care of them?”

“ _Work, work, work. That’s all I ever do_.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised as the repulsors sounded below. “Just don’t take the damn building out.”

“ _Just get the damn box._ ”

A few Skrulls spawned right in front of the box, as they do, and the Soldier made quick work of them. The others were close and he shoved a piece of debris out of the way, reached a hand out, and _finally_ pressed it against the loot box. Iron stopped firing below them as the Skrulls screamed, turning to dust.

“I really like that new feature,” the Soldier said, smile on his face. “This has to be a record, right?”

“ _I think it just might be. Celebratory milkshake and more_?”

“As if I could ever turn that down.” The Soldier laughed. “Just to clarify, that ‘and more’ means...”

“ _Call your mom, can you bunk over_?”

The Soldier’s smile widened. “For you, Tony, I would do anything.”


End file.
